19 killed as Ukraine and Russia trade heavy drone, missile strikes

Strikes killed 19 people in Russia and Ukraine over the weekend, authorities said on Sunday, as waves of drones and missiles targeted civilian infrastructure on both sides. In Russia, swarms of Ukrainian drones killed at least six people, with Moscow regional governor Andrey Vorobyov calling it one of the most massive drone attacks in recent memory. Russia’s defence ministry said it intercepted 822 drones across the country overnight, while state-run TASS described it as the largest Ukrainian drone assault of the year, The Hindu and Times Now report.

In Ukraine, a Russian missile and drone barrage killed two people and wounded 14 at ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, President Zelenskyy’s hometown, partially halting operations. A popular outdoor book market in Kyiv was also struck, with all four stalls of bookseller Dmytro Semenukha burnt to the ground. Strikes hit the Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Donetsk regions as well, Times Now adds. President Zelenskyy said Russia had launched over 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs and 62 missiles against Ukraine in the past week, and renewed his appeal for more air defence interceptors.

The Times Now report also notes that a Greek oil tanker near Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk was hit twice, with Ukraine likely responsible, and that Romania shot down a drone that entered its airspace, intercepted by a Spanish F-18 fighter jet. Fighting at the front remains near a standstill and talks are frozen, with both sides significantly stepping up long-range attacks, pushing civilian death tolls to their highest levels since early 2022.