Russia has launched its largest drone strike against Ukraine, the country’s air force has said.
Ukraine air defence systems destroyed 718 of the 728 drones fired at the country, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.
Seven of the 13 missiles launched in the attack were also destroyed.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the drone attack overnight showed the need for “biting” sanctions on Russia.
He said the main strike targeted Lutsk, in northwestern Ukraine, and damage has also been reported in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
The Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv regions have also been affected.
“This is a telling attack – and it comes precisely at a time when so many efforts have been made to achieve peace, to establish a ceasefire, and yet only Russia continues to rebuff them all,” Zelenskyy said.
“This is yet another proof of the need for sanctions – biting sanctions against oil, which has been fuelling Moscow’s war machine with money for over three years of the war.”
The Ukrainian leader also called for secondary sanctions “on those who buy this oil and thereby sponsor killings”.
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The latest drone attack comes less than a week after Ukraine was hit by a barrage of drone strikes, with Russia sending a combined 550 drones and missiles into the country.
Last Friday, Kyiv was under an all-night attack, with Ukraine’s air force saying the attack injured at least 23 people, damaged railway infrastructure and sparked fires across Ukraine’s capital.
Air raid alerts sounded for more than eight hours as the attacks struck Kyiv and firefighters battled to extinguish fires.
Russia said its forces successfully carried out strikes against military targets in the city.
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