NEWS DESK (MNN); Russia has carried out one of its largest aerial assaults since the start of the war with Ukraine, launching 948 drones within 24 hours, in what appears to mark the beginning of a new military offensive.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Tuesday’s rare daytime strikes killed two people in Ivano-Frankivsk and one in the Vinnytsia region. The attacks followed a widespread overnight bombardment across 11 regions, leaving at least five more dead, including casualties in Poltava region, Zaporizhia region, Kherson region and Kharkiv region.
In Lviv, footage showed a drone crashing into a historic building near a church in the city centre. Governor Maksym Kozytskyi confirmed damage to part of a UNESCO World Heritage site near St Andrew’s Church.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko condemned the strikes, saying Russia had targeted a crowded urban area in broad daylight.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed calls for urgent military assistance, warning that Ukraine faces a shortage of air defence missiles. He noted that Kyiv heavily depends on the United States for protection against ballistic threats, while Washington’s focus has shifted toward the Middle East conflict.
Zelenskyy stressed the need for allies to honour commitments on air defence systems and accelerate support, adding that security guarantees remain crucial for ending the war.
Meanwhile, intense fighting continues on the eastern front. Ukraine’s military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Russian forces had launched hundreds of attacks in recent days, attempting to breach defensive lines across multiple strategic areas.
The Institute for the Study of War said the scale of troop movements and equipment deployment suggests that a new Russian offensive is underway.
Russia, which currently controls around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, has intensified operations as spring conditions improve, although its advances have largely been limited to gradual gains in rural areas rather than major urban breakthroughs.
