Russia, Ukraine exchange drone strikes as Zelensky calls on allies for ‘unwavering’ help

LONDON — Ukrainian authorities said at least 23 people were injured and 41 buildings damaged in a Russian missile attack in northeastern Kharkiv on Monday night, as Moscow’s troops launched a new offensive in the region and captured battlefields across the eastern front.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Telegram that the strike of an S-400 anti-aircraft missile in Kharkov was part of a multi-pronged shelling that took place overnight on Ukrainian cities. Kyiv, Odessa and Zaporizhia were also the targets of attacks.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia fired 145 drones, of which 71 were shot down and 71 were killed in flight. The Air Force reported that one UAV entered Belarusian airspace.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down 23 Ukrainian drones in multiple regions. The ministry also said it shot down eight ballistic missiles, but did not specify their type.

Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region to the southwest, said falling drone debris caused a fire at the production plant. However, the General Staff of Ukraine stated that its attacks destroyed the Kaluganefteproduct oil depot in the city of Kaluga.

“In total, since yesterday evening, Russia has used about one and a half hundred attack drones, aerial bombs and missiles against more than 10 of our regions,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram early Monday morning.

“These Russian attacks on Ukrainian life can be stopped,” he added. “With pressure, sanctions, blocking the occupiers’ access to the components they use to create the tools of this terror, arms packages for Ukraine and unwavering determination.”

Just 30 km from the border with Russia, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s “second city”, has faced near-constant attacks since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in early 2022.

Russian forces failed to encircle and capture Kharkov in the first weeks of the invasion, but fighting along their common border continued throughout the conflict.

On Monday, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a Facebook post that Russian forces had launched attacks on the Kossack settlement of Lopan, about 3 km from the border and 26 km north of Kharkov.

Military blogger for Ukraine’s Deep State Telegram reported that Russian forces also launched an amphibious operation across the Oskil River in the eastern Kharkiv Oblast, where Russian troops are advancing towards the strategic target of Kupyansk.

Russian forces have established a bridgehead on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the waterway, Deep State wrote. The blogger’s claims could not immediately be verified.