Russia launched more than 500 drones and two dozen missiles toward Ukraine overnight, killing at least one person, in an attack that appeared to target Ukraine‘s energy grid.
Ukraine‘s president Volodymyr Zelensky said the main Russian nighttime targets were civilian infrastructure, especially energy facilities.
The attacks targeted western and central Ukraine and injured at least five people, the Ukrainian air force said.
According to Ukraine‘s Air Force, Russian forces launched 502 Shahed-type attack and decoy drones. Ukrainian forces intercepted 430 drones and 21 missiles, while the remaining strikes hit 14 locations.
In Chernihiv Oblast, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said nearly 30,000 homes were left without power after Russia hit a critical infrastructure facility.
Zelensky described the overnight strikes as “demonstrative.”
“Putin is demonstrating his impunity,” he said on Telegram, urging tougher sanctions on Russia. “Only due to the lack of sufficient pressure, primarily on the war economy, does Russia continue this aggression.”
In his daily video address on Tuesday evening, Zelensky said the number of Russian drone attacks is growing, including in broad daylight, and reported “another buildup of Russian forces in some sectors of the front.”
While Zelensky has accepted Trump’s proposals for a ceasefire and face-to-face peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has raised objections.
Putin was in China meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week, as well as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Those countries are supporting Russia’s war effort, Washington says. Pyongyang has sent troops and ammunition to Russia. China and India have bought Russian oil, indirectly helping Russia’s war economy.
Zelensky arrived in Denmark on Tuesday for talks with Northern European and Baltic countries about new military aid and further diplomatic support for Ukraine.
British Defense Secretary John Healey, meanwhile, arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for meetings on how to strengthen Ukraine’s military.
Zelensky was due later Wednesday in Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, ahead of a Thursday meeting there of European countries assessing what kind of postwar security guarantees they might be able to provide with the US.