The Ukrainian Air Force reported successfully repelling a large-scale Russian air attack overnight, intercepting 58 out of 67 long-range drones launched across the country. According to a statement from Ukraine’s parliament, debris from one of the downed drones was found near the parliament building in Kyiv. Air defense units were mobilized in 11 regions, and the drones were launched from two Russian border areas and the Russian-occupied Crimea.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the attack. Both Associated Press and Reuters confirmed that drone debris was photographed outside the parliament. This incident follows a week of intensified long-range attacks, including a missile strike in Poltava that killed 55 people and injured 328. On Wednesday, another attack in Lviv, near the Polish border, killed seven people, including a mother and her three daughters.
Ukrainian forces also carried out strikes on Russia, with a drone attack in Russia’s Voronezh region causing a fire and the detonation of explosives. Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev declared a state of emergency in the Ostrogozhsky district and evacuated several villages. He urged residents not to share geolocated photos or videos of the incident online.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced the capture of the village of Kalynove in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, located 25 km southeast of the strategic city of Pokrovsk. In another incident, Russian artillery shelling in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk, left three people dead and three others wounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his allies to provide long-range strike capabilities, particularly targeting military airfields up to 300 km inside Russian territory. He also called on the U.S. to allow Ukraine to use its long-range weapons for deep strikes into Russia.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during the Ambrosetti Forum in northern Italy to discuss his peace plan and Ukraine’s post-war energy reconstruction. He rejected calls for a ceasefire from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to honor previous agreements.
