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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed Russia for intensifying what he called a terror campaign designed to intimidate Ukrainian civilians. Zelenskyy made the remarks in a post on X, where he detailed the Kremlin’s increased attacks on Ukraine over the past seven days.
The Ukrainian leader says Russia fired over 1,800 drones, more than 1,200 guided aerial bombs and 83 missiles of various types in the space of one week. Earlier in the week, Kyiv said Russia launched a barrage which included highly lethal aeroballistic and cruise missiles.
Russia’s defence ministry have claimed major territorial gains amid their renewed offensive, particularly on the eastern frontlines in the Donbas region. The Kremlin says its forces have claimed the villages of Mykolaiv and Mirne in Donetsk.
Moscow currently controls a little over two-thirds of the Donetsk region, including the city of Donetsk itself, and a large swathe of surrounding territory. Kyiv has not commented on Russia’s claims of further advancement.
Zelenskyy did however note that Ukraine’s air defence forces are achieving “good results”. The Ukrainian leader says Kyiv’s air defences were able to thwart hundreds of Russian drone strikes targeting several cities and positions in primarily civilian positions.
“Interceptor drones are performing particularly well, with hundreds of Russian-Iranian “shaheds” shot down over the past week,” wrote Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy also expressed ongoing efforts to further bolster Ukrainian air defences and advance interception technology.
“Every meeting with partners this week was about scaling up this technology. I am grateful to everyone willing to invest in the protection of life, and to our warriors who safeguard the Ukrainian skies.”
He also called on allies to ramp up pressure on Moscow to force them to the negotiating table and end their full-scale invasion of his country, well into its fourth year.
“Shaheds” are one of Russia’s ways of prolonging the war. We must neutralize this threat in order to bring diplomacy into motion sooner,” asserted Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian president expressed his gratitude to Ukraine’s allies in Europe, the Group of Seven – or G7 – and the United States for their continued support and commitment to ensuring Ukraine can continue to fend off Russian attacks.
A few days ago, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington will send a weapons package to Ukraine in the coming days, which will be delivered to them through an intermediary in NATO.
The weapons shipment, paid for by Ukraine’s European allies and NATO, includes Patriot air defence systems, which Ukraine has been seeking for a long time due to their high efficacy in intercepting aerial attacks.
Additional sources • AP
