Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defense as the Ukrainian military shot down 50 out of 73 Russian drones launched overnight in several regions of the country.
“Air raid sirens have been heard almost every day across Ukraine this week,” President Zelensky said on the Telegram platform.
Over the past week, Russia used more than 800 air bombs, around 460 attack drones, and over 20 missiles of various types, Zelensky reported.
Meanwhile, two Ukrainian missiles and 27 drones were destroyed over the Russian region of Kursk, said the governor of the region, which borders Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military later wrote on Telegram that its forces had destroyed a Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system in Kursk. Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Ukraine has lost over 40 percent of its territory in the Russian Kursk region, which it captured during a surprise attack in August.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian investigators are examining the remnants of a new Russian medium-range ballistic missile that struck the city of Dnipro on Thursday, marking the first use of such a powerful weapon in the war.
Russia claims that the Oreshnik missile cannot be neutralized by air defense. Ukraine has stated that the missile reached a maximum speed of over 13,000 kilometers per hour before hitting the city of Dnipro on Thursday.
The Ukrainian president said that the use of the missile constitutes a serious escalation and urged allies to respond. The Kremlin has stated that it struck a Ukrainian military target in Dnipro in response to Ukrainian missile attacks against Russia using American and British missiles.
