Russian forces carried out their largest aerial attack against Ukraine since the start of the war on Wednesday. Over 700 drones and a dozen cruise and ballistic missiles were fired at Ukraine overnight.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia fired 728 drones, including some decoys, in the assault. He claimed Ukrainian forces downed 711 unmanned aerial vehicles, meaning 17 projectiles landed. Additionally, Russia fired 13 cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukraine, with Kiev saying seven were shot down.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack was directed at “the infrastructure of military airfields,” and that all designated targets were hit. Ukraine says Russia has started attacks on its military recruitment centers, with five damaged in the past week.
Russia has conducted increasingly large drone strikes on Ukraine in recent days. The massive attacks come as Ukraine’s Western backers struggle to come up with additional air defenses to send to Kiev.
Last week, the Pentagon announced that it was halting transfers of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine. The Department of Defense assesses that it only has 25% of the Patriot missiles to protect the US and its interests, as it defines them.
However, President Donald Trump appears to be ignoring the warning from his Pentagon and pressing forward with sending Patriot interceptors to Ukraine. Axios reported that the US will send Ukraine 10 missiles for the expensive system. Additionally, Trump is considering providing yet another Patriot battery to Kiev, after several were destroyed in Russian airstrikes earlier in the war.
As the stockpile of interceptors has shrunk, more Russian missiles and drones have hit their targets, including more than 5,000 in June alone.
Trump, who promised to end the war within 24 hours of returning to the Oval Office, appears increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US president described his call last week with Putin as disappointing. On Tuesday he said, “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
The Kremlin appears unfazed by Trump’s statements. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “We react quite calmly to that. First of all, Trump makes quite harsh statements, judging from the phrases that he has used.”
