Russia launches record drone attack on Ukraine
Russia launched a record-breaking 728 Shahed and decoy drones along with 13 missiles at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force reported Wednesday, marking a sharp escalation in the ongoing war now in its fourth year.
The western city of Lutsk, near the borders with Poland and Belarus, was the hardest hit in the wave of attacks, though President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 10 other regions were also targeted. Lutsk, a key military hub with airfields frequently used by Ukrainian cargo planes and fighter jets, plays a crucial logistical role in receiving foreign military aid before it’s distributed to other parts of Ukraine. Russia has intensified its long-range strikes to disrupt these supply lines.
In recent weeks, Moscow has ramped up the scale and complexity of its aerial offensives, increasingly using decoy drones to try and overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.
The latest barrage surpasses the previous record set on the night of July 4. These attacks come alongside renewed efforts by Russia’s larger army to break through weakened segments of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) frontline, where Ukrainian troops are under growing pressure.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was “not happy” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has remained unmoved on his ceasefire and peace demands since Trump took office in January.
Trump also said on Monday that the U.S. may need to send additional weapons to Ukraine, following a temporary pause in arms shipments that raised questions about Washington's commitment to Kyiv’s defense.
President Zelenskyy described the latest assault as a deliberate signal from the Kremlin amid faltering U.S.-led peace efforts. He called on Ukraine’s international partners to tighten sanctions on Russian oil and penalize those funding Moscow’s war by purchasing its energy exports.
“Everyone who wants peace must act,” Zelenskyy urged. During his visit to Italy on Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader was scheduled to meet Pope Leo XIV.
Ukrainian officials said two people were injured in the Kyiv region during the overnight strikes, while emergency teams continued to assess the full scale of damage.
In response to the assault, Poland scrambled fighter jets and raised its military alert level, according to a post by the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command on social media platform X.
Elsewhere in Europe, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen issued a stark warning on Tuesday, saying Russia could become a serious security threat to the European Union within five years. She called for a rapid boost in defense manufacturing across both Europe and Ukraine.
According to Ukraine’s air force, 296 drones and seven missiles were successfully intercepted overnight. An additional 415 drones either crashed or were neutralized via jamming technologies.
President Zelenskyy noted growing success in using domestically developed interceptor drones, made specifically to counter Russia’s Shahed drones. He said production is increasing, aided by Western partnerships.
Military analysts warn that Russia is ramping up its own drone manufacturing and may soon be capable of launching up to 1,000 drones per night.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has expanded its own drone operations, recently conducting long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported Wednesday that its air defenses shot down 86 Ukrainian drones across six regions, including the area around Moscow. As a precaution, flights were temporarily halted at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and the Kaluga International Airport.
In Russia’s border region of Kursk, Governor Alexander Khinshtein said a Ukrainian drone strike on the regional capital just before midnight killed three people and injured seven others, including a five-year-old child.