Russia launches large-scale attack on Ukraine

Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack targeting regions across Ukraine early on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks took place across nine regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv.

“The enemy’s target was our infrastructure, residential areas and civilian enterprises,” he said, adding that a missile equipped with cluster munitions struck a multistory building in the city of Dnipro.

“Each such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to intimidate civilians and destroy our infrastructure,” Zelensky said in a statement on his official Telegram account.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian drones overnight slammed into an energy facility in Samara, southwestern Russia, according to the local governor and Ukraine’s General Staff.

Russia’s Defence Ministry on Saturday said its forces intercepted 149 Ukrainian drones during the night.

Zelensky said he expects to meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week. He also said the first ladies of Ukraine and the United States would likely hold separate talks focused on humanitarian issues involving children.

At least 30 people were wounded in the attack in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, local Governor Serhii Lysak said. Several high-rise buildings and homes were damaged in the eastern city of Dnipro.

In the Kyiv region, local authorities reported strikes in the areas of Bucha, Boryspil and Obukhiv. A home and cars were damaged. In the western region of Lviv, Governor Maxim Kozytsky said two cruise missiles were shot down.

Russia launched 619 drones and missiles, Ukraine’s air force said, of which 552 drones, two ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles were shot down or neutralised.

Zelensky said that Ukraine and its partners have laid the groundwork for long-term security guarantees and that he hopes to gauge how close they are to finalizing such commitments during next week’s meetings in New York.

He said European nations are prepared to move forward with a framework if the United States remains closely engaged.

Associated Press