2 people dead, 19 wounded as Russia strikes Ukraine with missiles and drones

Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing two people and wounding 19, officials said, as Kyiv awaits supplies of air defence munitions after a shortage has left it exposed to Russian attacks.

Eleven people were wounded in the capital, Kyiv, by an attack that used ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones.

“Civilian infrastructure was hit even before the air raid alert was issued,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that rescuers were working on the site.

WATCH | Is Ukraine running out of interceptors as war rages on?:

Is Ukraine running out of interceptors? | About That

Andrew Chang breaks down why Ukraine’s air defences failed to intercept any of the ballistic missiles Russia fired during its latest attack.

Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters, Adobe Stock and Getty Images

“Our defenders managed to shoot down most of the targets, but not the ballistic ones,” he said, calling on Ukraine’s allies to quickly deliver the support packages of air defences agreed at this week’s NATO summit in Turkey.

Russia launched six ballistic missiles, another six cruise missiles and 121 drones, Ukraine’s air force said, adding that it downed at least two cruise missiles and 111 drones.

Later in the morning, a missile strike in the port city of Odesa killed two people and wounded another, while a drone hit a civilian enterprise in the eastern city of Kharkiv, wounding seven.

Ukraine pleads for supplies from allies

Ukraine, which is critically low on munitions for its Patriot air defence systems, has been largely unable to down ballistic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound, over the past month.

It has pleaded with allies for greater supplies of those munitions, and it has also pushed Europe to work with Kyiv on its own anti-ballistic air defence system.

WATCH | The U.S. to give Ukraine licence for Patriot missile production:

U.S. to give Ukraine licence to produce Patriot missiles

At the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Donald Trump said the U.S. will give Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot interceptors, a key tool for military defence against Russian ballistic missiles.

U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that Ukraine will be granted a licence to produce its own Patriot interceptor missiles.

After Saturday’s attack, Zelenskyy called for those projects to move “as swiftly as possible.”

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s capital in recent weeks. So far this month, strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region have killed more than 60 people.

Kyiv, in turn, has been pressuring Russia’s military logistics in occupied southern Ukraine, seeking to deprive Russian forces of fuel and munitions by conducting strikes on trucks and vessels deep behind the front lines.

Ukraine’s drone forces chief Robert Brovdi said his units had struck 21 fuel tanker vessels in the Sea of Azov overnight, as well as seven other cargo and support ships, bringing the total up to 76 vessels struck this week.