Man dies as Russia strikes Ukraine with drones and missiles
One person was killed when Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 87 Shahed drones and four different types of missile overnight, officials said on Sunday.
A 49-year-old man died in the Kharkiv region when his car was hit by a drone, said regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.
A gas pipeline was also damaged and a warehouse set alight in the city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials reported.
Ukraine’s air force said in a statement that air defences had destroyed 56 of the 87 drones and two missiles over 14 Ukrainian regions, including the capital, Kyiv.
Another 25 drones disappeared from radar “presumably as a result of anti-aircraft missile defence”, it added.
The barrage came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will present his “victory plan” at the October 12 meeting of the Ramstein group of nations that supplies arms to Ukraine.
He presented his plan to US President Joe Biden in Washington last week. Its contents have not been made public but it is known that it includes Ukrainian membership of Nato and the provision of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia.
In a statement on Sunday, the Ukrainian leader paid tribute to the country’s troops, which he also described as “preparing (for) the next Ramstein”.
“They demonstrate what Ukrainians are capable of when they have enough weapons and sufficient range,” he said in a statement on social media.
“We will keep convincing our partners that our drones alone are not enough. More decisive steps are needed — and the end of this war will be closer.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Sunday that it had shot down four Ukrainian drones over the Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod regions in the country.
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