Ukraine says Russia launched 479 drones in major bombardment

Ukraine is short-handed on the front line against its bigger enemy and needs further military support from its Western partners, especially air defences.

Russia launched 479 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, the Ukrainian air force said Monday, as the Kremlin presses its summer offensive against the backdrop of direct peace talks.

As well as drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s air force said its air defences destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight on Sunday night, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target. Officials said one person was injured.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

A recent escalation in aerial attacks has coincided with a renewed Russian battlefield push on eastern and northeastern parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Sunday that in some of those areas “the situation is very difficult.” He provided no details.

Ukraine is short-handed on the front line against its bigger enemy and needs further military support from its Western partners, especially air defences. But uncertainty about the U.S. policy on the war has fueled doubts about how much help Kyiv can count on.

Two recent rounds of direct peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul have yielded no significant breakthroughs beyond pledges to swap prisoners as well as thousands of their dead and seriously wounded troops.