For the first time in nearly two weeks, Ukraine’s air defences intercepted five Russian ballistic missiles launched in a wave of overnight attacks, the air force said. Unlike drones or cruise missiles, ballistic missiles are far harder to stop. The successful interception likely relied on US-made Patriot systems, though ammunition for them has been in short supply amid the Iran war.
Other missiles and drones got through. In Kyiv, fires broke out at two warehouses and a school was damaged, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The Russian defence ministry claimed the strikes targeted military manufacturing facilities producing long-range missiles and drones. Ukraine’s air force reported that one ballistic missile and 25 drones struck 17 locations, with falling debris in 10 places.
“Ukraine intercepts five Russian ballistic missiles for first time in two weeks amid overnight attacks on Kyiv”
The attacks came as Ukraine urgently seeks to strengthen its air defence ahead of another winter. Much of the country remains vulnerable to Russian missiles that have hammered the power grid since the February 2022 invasion.
In a diplomatic step forward, nine other countries joined Ukraine in a coalition announced on Monday to build a shared ballistic missile shield for Europe. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine and its partners could develop a mass-produced, low-cost system within 12 months. The US president, Donald Trump, said at the Nato summit last week that the US would give Ukraine a licence to manufacture Patriot systems itself, but production is slow and deployment years away.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has intensified its own long-range strikes inside Russia, particularly on oil facilities. In the Krasnodar region, the Afipsky Oil Refinery caught fire; local authorities said the blaze was later extinguished. Unconfirmed reports said an oil refinery in Salavat, Bashkortostan, 1,400km from the border, was also hit. The head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, confirmed an attack on an industrial area.
Zelensky has announced a 40-day operation against Russian targets to “influence the aggressor state in order to press for an end to the war” – likely meaning many more drone strikes. Monday saw the largest drone attack on Moscow so far.
The EU has disbursed the first €3.2bn instalment of its €90bn loan to Ukraine. But war fatigue is growing: the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary refused to finance the loan, a decision Hungary’s new pro-EU government has not reversed. Bulgaria’s new government has also prohibited arms supplies.
