Ukraine Shoots Down 138 of 147 Russian Drones; Zelensky Appeals to Trump for Air Defences
Ukraine’s air defences shot down 138 of 147 Russian drones launched overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said. President Volodymyr Zelensky made a two-fold appeal to President Donald Trump and the US Congress for more air defence systems, urging Washington to “eliminate Putin’s last advantage”. Russian attacks killed two and injured 23 across Ukraine over the past day. A Kherson strike devastated a family. The pattern of saturation drone attacks — mostly Shahed and decoy types — continues at near-nightly frequency as Ukraine’s interceptor stocks for Patriot, NASAMS and IRIS-T systems remain constrained by parallel US deployment to Gulf-state air defence.
Russia’s Defence Ministry has stepped up threats against Kyiv, warning of “consistent, systematic strikes on Kyiv targeting its military industrial complex” and telling foreign citizens and diplomatic staff to leave the city “as soon as possible”. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the overall level of security threats “remains the same as in previous years and months”. Major attacks on Kyiv this week have been bookended by Russia’s renewed use of the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile. Russian forces are stalled on the battlefield and at the negotiating table; Ukraine has retaken more ground than Russia took in February for the first time since the August 2024 Kursk incursion, and Russia continued losing ground through April.