Russia hammered Ukraine with missiles and drones early yesterday, killing at least 26 people and exposing Kyiv’s critical shortage of US-made interceptors, officials said, just days after the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital this year.
Rescuers were digging bodies from the rubble of a Kyiv high-rise ripped open in the overnight bombardment.
The latest attack came on the eve of a Nato summit where US President Donald Trump is due to hold talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy today in a renewed push for peace.
Ukraine’s military was unable to down any of the 23 ballistic missiles fired by Russia, according to air force data, reflecting its increasing vulnerability to Moscow’s strikes as stocks of its prized Patriot missiles run out.
Zelenskiy has pleaded for interceptors – the only weapon in its arsenal that can shoot down ballistic projectiles, whose high velocity and steep flight path make them difficult to stop.
Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said it was ‘simply absurd that, in the modern world, production has still not been scaled up to the level actually required to protect people from ballistic terror’.
Earlier, the president called for ‘strong decisions’ at the Nato summit in Türkiye to ensure Ukraine can defend itself.
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