Russia fires 705 missiles, drones into Ukraine in ‘complex’ attack, Zelenskyy says

Margaryta Galych/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

(LONDON) — Russia bombarded Ukrainian cities with 705 missiles and drones overnight into Thursday, according to Ukraine’s air force, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reporting strikes on civilian targets and energy infrastructure all across the country.

Russia launched 653 drones and 52 missiles of various types in its attack, Ukraine’s air force said. Of those, 592 drones and 31 missiles were shot down or otherwise suppressed, the air force said. Sixteen missiles and 63 drones impacted across 20 locations, the air force said.

Wednesday night’s attack was the second-largest Russian drone and missile barrage of the full-scale invasion to date, according to Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News.

Only the bombardment of the night of Sept. 6 to 7 — in which Russia launched a combined total of 823 drones and missiles into Ukraine — was larger.

Zelenskyy said attacks were reported in the capital Kyiv and at least nine other Ukrainian regions, stretching from frontline areas in the southeast of the country to the border with Poland in the west.

“It was a complex, combined strike,” Zelenskyy said in a post to social media. At least two people were killed in a strike on a residential building in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, with “tens of people” injured, the president said.

“There have also been many vile strikes on energy facilities and civilian life across the regions,” Zelenskyy wrote. “All the necessary services are deployed on the sites. All efforts should be made to restore power and water supply as swiftly as possible wherever it’s been disrupted.”

“Russia continues its terrorist war against life itself, and it’s crucial that every such vile attack on civilians boomerangs back on Russia with concrete consequences — sanctions and real pressure,” Zelenskyy continued.

“We count on America, Europe, and the G7 countries not to ignore this,” he wrote. “New steps are needed to increase pressure — on Russia’s oil and gas industry, its financial system and through secondary sanctions on those who bankroll this war.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down at least 173 Ukrainian drones overnight into Thursday. Nine were downed over the Moscow region, including six that were “heading to Moscow,” the ministry said.

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