Russia sends nearly 100 drones into Ukraine, as Zelenskyy urges tougher sanctions against Moscow

KYIV: Moscow sent 96 drones and a guided air missile into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.

According to Ukraine's Air Force, 66 drones were destroyed during the overnight barrage, along with the missile. A further 27 drones were “lost” over various areas, it said, likely having been electronically jammed, while one drone flew into Belarusian airspace. No casualties were reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russia had launched around 900 guided aerial bombs, 500 drones and 30 missiles against Ukraine over the past week.

Zelenskyy appealed Sunday on X to Ukraine's allies to provide “long-range capabilities for our security”, saying that these “attacks would have been impossible if we had sufficient support from the world". Kyiv is still awaiting word from its Western partners on its repeated requests to use the long-range weapons they provide to hit targets on Russian soil, including for preemptive Ukrainian strikes on camps where North Korean troops are being trained.

The Ukrainian President also urged partners to enact “truly effective sanctions to prevent Russia from importing critical components for drone and missile production”. This appeal followed an address on Saturday, in which he said over 2,000 drones and missiles "still using Western components” were launched against Ukraine in October, and underlined the need for more stringent export controls to prevent sanctions evasion.

In Russia, the Defence Ministry said that 19 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Sunday in three regions of Russia: 16 in the Rostov region, two in the Belgorod region and one in the Volgograd region.

A man died Sunday in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Belgorod region, according to regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.