Zelenskyy: 2,300 drones and 1,600 glide bombs in a week, appeal for Patriots
Russia hit targets in nine regions overnight into Sunday, and a second strike in Kharkiv targeted rescuers. Zelenskyy is urging the release of promised interceptors.
Archive image · Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine / Державна служба України з надзвичайних ситуацій / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Russia attacked Ukraine with about 1,600 guided aerial bombs, nearly 2,300 attack drones and 48 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles, in a single week, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Overnight into Sunday, Russia launched 153 drones and an unspecified number of cruise missiles, Ukraine's air force said; 119 drones were downed or suppressed, with impacts at 15 locations. According to Zelenskyy, targets included residential buildings, thermal power plants, substations, coal mines, grain storage facilities and a postal logistics hub in nine regions.
In Vinnytsia, a drone hit a five-story apartment building, injuring six people, and a nearby nursing home was evacuated. In Kharkiv, Russia struck a home improvement hypermarket and then hit arriving rescue workers in a second strike; according to ABC News, four people were injured in Kharkiv, including three emergency workers. The Epicenter retail chain reported strikes on its stores in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia and Poltava within 24 hours. "Unfortunately, almost every day there are dead and wounded from these brutal strikes," Zelenskyy wrote.
He urged European partners to "unblock" deliveries of already approved Patriot interceptors and asked for help against jet-powered Shahed drones before winter. He told ABC News that Ukraine needs about 350 Patriot interceptors per month. The attacks were Russia's response to diplomacy and to efforts to end its isolation, he said. Trilateral talks between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia are planned in the United Arab Emirates in November.