Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Kyiv early Friday, killing six people and leaving gaping holes in apartment buildings. Russia used at least 430 drones and 18 missiles in the nighttime attack, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, per the AP. The aerial assault, which also targeted Odesa in the south and Kharkiv in the northeast, was mostly aimed at Kyiv, where drones and missiles smashed into high-rise apartment blocks, according to Zelensky. It was "a specially calculated attack to cause as much harm as possible to people and civilians," he said in a post on Telegram.
Moscow denies targeting civilian areas, with the Russian Defense Ministry saying Friday it carried out an overnight strike on Ukraine's "military-industrial and energy facilities." Most recent Russian aerial attacks have been aimed at electricity infrastructure around the country ahead of the bitter winter months. Friday's attack was the biggest on Kyiv in almost three weeks. Ukraine used its American-made Patriot air defense systems to repel the attack and shot down 14 missiles, Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader has pleaded with foreign supporters to send more of the sophisticated systems. Top European defense officials meeting in Berlin on Friday vowed to keep up their support for Ukraine, with Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal joining the meeting remotely. Russian defense officials, meanwhile, said Friday that air-defense forces shot down 216 Ukrainian drones overnight over a number of Russian regions, including the annexed Crimea.
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