Zelenskyy said Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 120 drones during the day, including 90 jet-powered UAVs. Nine people were killed and more than 80 were injured in various regions of Ukraine.
“The overall rate of drones shot down today is 70%,” Zelenskyy said.
“That includes both regular and jet-powered Shaheds. But for
jet-powered drones, the rate is unfortunately far below what is needed. For
now, it is 57%, and new interceptors are actively undergoing testing.”
Kyiv was targeted nearly non-stop through the day. A
jet-powered Shahed drone struck the building of the National Academy of
Sciences of Ukraine in the Shevchenkivskyi district. Natalia Bukalo, an aide to
Volodymyr Horbulin, the academy’s former secretary and a former secretary of
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, was killed. Six other people
were injured. Later that day, authorities reported that the body of another
victim had been found in the academy building.
Russia also struck a building housing the Dobrobut medical clinic in the Holosiivskyi district, injuring eight people.
In Dnipro, a business center was hit, killing three people and injuring 18. In Odesa, a 12-story residential building was damaged, injuring four people. In Zaporizhzhia, more than 30 people were injured in a Russian strike on a Ukrainian railway company facility. Russian forces also attacked the Sumy and Kharkiv oblast, and one jet-powered drone reached the border with Poland.
Some combat units are already using new interceptors against
jet-powered drones, according to the president. But Zelenskyy said certain
components still need to be improved “to ensure sufficient effectiveness and
sufficient scale.”