Russia fires more missiles and drones at Ukraine ahead of diplomatic efforts to stop the war

Russian forces fired missiles and drones at the Kyiv region and five other areas of Ukraine in a nighttime attack, officials said on Wednesday, ahead of several days of intense diplomatic activity around the war that is now in its third year.

Russian forces fired missiles and drones at the Kyiv region and five other areas of Ukraine in a nighttime attack, officials said on Wednesday, ahead of several days of intense diplomatic activity around the war that is now in its third year.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down more than two dozen air targets, including cruise missiles, a Kinzhal ballistic missile and Shahed drones. Several people were injured, authorities said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the air force’s response, saying it could be a “daily achievement” if the country had the tools to successfully repel Russian attacks. He has repeatedly appealed to Ukraine’s Western partners to provide more air defence systems, and the United States has agreed to send another Patriot missile system, two U.S. officials said late on Tuesday.

How best to support Ukraine’s efforts to stop Russia’s invasion will be a central issue in international meetings in coming days.

Kyiv’s outgunned and outnumbered forces are battling to hold back the bigger Russian Army, which is trying to exploit Ukrainian vulnerabilities. Ukraine has been short of troops, ammunition and air defences in recent months as the Kremlin’s forces try to cripple the national power supply and punch through the front line in eastern parts of the country.

Ukraine will need to weather the Russian onslaught through the summer, military analysts say, and in the meantime train more soldiers, build fortifications and hope that the provision of Western military aid picks up speed so that in 2025 Kyiv may be able to mount its own offensive.

Leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies, including U.S. President Joe Biden, are due to gather Thursday in Italy for their annual summit to discuss how to squeeze more money for Ukraine from Russian assets frozen in their countries.