Russia Hits Ukraine With Biggest Airstrike of the War

Russia launched 479 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, the Ukrainian air force said Monday, as the Kremlin presses its summer offensive against the backdrop of direct peace talks. As well as drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine. Ukraine's air force said its air defenses destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight on Sunday night, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target. Officials said one person was injured. It was not possible to independently verify the claims, reports the AP.

A recent escalation in aerial attacks has coincided with a renewed Russian battlefield push on eastern and northeastern parts of the roughly 620-mile front line. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Sunday that in some of those areas "the situation is very difficult." He provided no details. Russia's aerial attacks usually start late in the evening and end in the morning, because drones are harder to spot in the dark. Ukraine is short-handed on the front line against its bigger enemy and needs further military support from its Western partners, especially air defenses. But uncertainty about the US policy on the war has fueled doubts about how much help Kyiv can count on.

Russia's Ministry of Defense said Monday that it shot down 49 Ukrainian drones overnight over seven Russian regions. Two drones hit a plant specializing in electronic warfare equipment in the Chuvashia region, located more than 370 miles east of Moscow, local officials reported. Alexander Gusev, head of Russia's Voronezh region, said that 25 drones had been shot down there overnight, damaging a gas pipeline and sparking a small fire. The Ukrainian General Staff claimed special operations forces forces struck two Russian fighter jets stationed at the Savasleyka airfield in Russia's Novgorod region located some 400 miles from Ukrainian border. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)