Russian forces have launched more than 500 aerial weapons at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv said on June 29, describing the attack as the biggest air strike on the country since the war began.
“Almost all night long, air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine -- 477 drones were in our skies, most of them Russian-Iranian Shaheds, along with 60 missiles of various types,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post.
“A residential building in Smila was also hit, and a child was injured,” Zelenskyy wrote, referring to an attack in the central province of Cherkasy that wounded six people, according to the regional military administration. Zelenskyy accused Russia of “targeting everything that sustains life.”
He said Ukrainian F-16 pilot Maksym Ustymenko died “while repelling” Russian attacks. “Today, he destroyed 7 aerial targets,” Zelenskyy said. He praised Ukraine's air force for “heroically protecting our skies,” adding that he is “grateful to everyone who is defending Ukraine."
Zelenskyy reiterated calls on Ukraine’s Western allies for continued support for Kyiv to help defend itself against the Russian attacks.
“Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defense -- the thing that best protects lives. These are American systems, which we are ready to buy. We count on leadership, political will, and the support of the United States, Europe, and all our partners,” he wrote.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 249 of the Russian drones and missiles fired overnight, and that 225 drones disappeared from the radar.
Yuriy Ihnat, the air force's head of communications, told the Associated Press that the latest Russian assault was “the most massive air strike” on Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country began in February 2022.
The attack prompted Poland and allied countries to scramble aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, the Polish military said on June 29.
Casualties and damages were reported from at least six regions across Ukraine, including Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in the country’s west, Mykolayiv in the south, Zaporizhzhya in the southeast, and Poltava in central Ukraine.
