Russia hit Ukraine with 537 drones and missiles overnight Sunday in Moscow's biggest attack of the war. Ukraine shot down 475 missiles and drones, the air force said, and a Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed in the action. It was the Kremlin's biggest attack since Russian President Vladimir Putin began his full-scale occupation in early 2022.
The Russian attack began Saturday evening and continued for more than six hours, Ukrainian officials said. Drones and missiles targeted Cherkasy, Lviv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Kiev, injuring a dozen people and destroying residential buildings and storage facilities, as well as critical infrastructure across the country, officials said. Neighboring Poland scrambled its jets and put its ground-based air defense units on alert due to cross-border attacks in Ukraine.
Ukraine used its entire arsenal to repel the attack, including fighter jets, officials said. F-16 fighter jets provided by Western allies have become a key tool in defending against Russian missile attacks, writes A2 CNN.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said an F-16 pilot was killed. “Tragically, while repelling the attack, our F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, died. Today, he destroyed seven air targets,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Sunday. “Ustymenko did everything possible, but his plane was damaged and began to lose altitude,” the air force added. “He died a hero!”
Since the start of its summer offensive, Moscow has stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian cities. “This week alone, there have been more than 114 missiles, over 1,270 drones and nearly 1,100 cruise missiles,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin decided long ago that he would continue the war, despite the world’s calls for peace.”
The Ukrainian president repeated his calls for allies to help defend Ukraine and put pressure on Moscow to end the war.
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