Russia targeted eight regions of Ukraine in its latest nighttime drone and missile barrage, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with local authorities reporting that the strikes wounded more than two dozen civilians, including three children.
Zelenskyy says his country’s authorities identified at least 524 Iranian-made Shahed strike drones and close to two dozen ballistic and cruise missiles fired into Ukraine from Russia between late Sunday and into Monday.
The city of Dnipro and the surrounding central region of Ukraine bore the brunt of the attack, officials said.
The barrage continued a recent spiral of long-range strikes that have grown in scale following a May 9-11 ceasefire that US President Donald Trump said he had requested Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to observe, hoping it could lead to long-term peace, but which had little impact.
There is no sign a peace deal is taking shape despite US diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s invasion. Russian attacks across Ukraine over the last few days, targeting mainly residential areas across the country, have killed dozens, including at least 24 people in one Kyiv apartment building, according to Ukrainian officials.
One of Ukraine’s largest counterattacks on Russia in recent days killed at least four people, including three near Moscow, and wounded a dozen others, authorities announced on Sunday.
In more than four years of war, Ukraine has built up its own long-range capabilities. It has been hitting oil facilities that represent a vital part of the Russian economy, as well as other targets deep inside Russia, making the Russian public take notice, and following through on their initiative of making the consequences of war known to ordinary Russians.
That tactic has dramatically increased the pressure on Putin, whose army is struggling to make progress on the battlefield and who claimed earlier this month, without providing evidence, that the war is approaching its end.
On Sunday, the Russian Defence Ministry said that more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones had been shot down or jammed the 24 hours prior, with around 80 being identified as targeting the capital Moscow.
In another significant enhancement of Ukraine’s long-range arsenal, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Monday that the country has developed its first glide bomb — a powerful weapon that has regularly been deployed to devastating effect by Russia.
The Ukrainian version carries a 250-kilogram warhead and is designed to strike heavy fortifications, command posts and other targets dozens of kilometres behind the front line, he said. Ukrainian pilots are currently training with the weapon under combat conditions.
Zelenskyy claims a significant shift is taking place.
“Our long-range capabilities are significantly changing the situation — and, more broadly, the world’s perception of Russia’s war,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X late on Sunday.
“Many partners are now signalling that they see what is happening and how everything has changed — both in attitudes toward this war and in the reachability of Russian targets on Russian territory.”
The Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Monday it had dealt Ukraine a massive blow overnight with precision ground- and sea-based missiles and drones, striking weapons factories, oil and energy facilities, as well as transport and port infrastructure used by the Ukrainian armed forces.
It said the goal of the strike had been achieved and all the designated targets had been hit. Kyiv has yet to confirm or respond to Russia’s claims.
The escalations come ahead of a highly-anticipated meeting between Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing later this week.
Cooperation between Russia and China has deepened in recent years after many Western countries sought to isolate the Russian leader, with China growing to become Russia’s main trading partner.
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