President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday Ukraine needs to strengthen its defences to protect people after its air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched overnight over many regions.
“An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram messenger.
Over the past week Russia used more than 800 guided aerial bombs, about 460 attack drones, and more than 20 missiles of various types, Zelenskyy said.
“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state. But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us,” he added.
The Ukrainian military said earlier on Sunday that air defence units had destroyed more than 10 Russian drones that were targeting Kyiv in an overnight attack.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the attack, Kyiv’s military administration posted on Telegram.
Reuters witnesses heard explosions in Kyiv in what sounded like air defense units in operation.
“The UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were flying in different directions towards Kyiv,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said.
“The air raid alert in the city lasted for more than three hours.”
There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attack, though the governor of the region that borders Ukraine said on Sunday two Ukrainian missiles and 27 drones were destroyed over Russia’s Kursk region.
It was not immediately clear what missiles were destroyed and Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov did not provide further details in a post on his Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian military later said on Telegram that its forces had destroyed a Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system in Kursk.
Reuters could not independently confirm the report.
Air defences have been a key request of the Ukrainians for years, and NATO allies have stepped up their deliveries of those systems, although they have been slow to arrive.
Canada announced on Friday an air defence missile system it purchased through U.S. manufacturers was finally on the ground in Ukraine, nearly two years after it was first ordered.