Russian Strikes on Ukraine Continue Through Tuesday Night Into Wednesday; Civilian Targets Hit
Russian forces conducted another devastating series of drone and missile strikes against Ukraine through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, hitting more civilian targets across multiple cities. The strikes follow Monday-Tuesday’s large-scale Russian missile and drone assault that killed at least 18 across Ukraine including Kyiv apartment-building strikes. President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to press the United States for more air-defence missiles; US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Saturday the US will “find a way” to help Ukraine defend itself.
The Kyiv apartment-building strike Monday night was the most significant residential-area Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital since the early phase of the war. Each Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor costs roughly $4 million and is produced at a constrained rate of around 600 per year industry-wide. The US redirect to the Iran theatre during the war removed several batteries from the Ukraine pipeline; Hegseth’s “find a way” signal becomes operationally relevant if the Iran framework deal signs and Patriot replenishment can resume. Russian Geran-2 attack drones are produced at a rate of around 5,000 per month. Ukrainian air defences shot down a majority of incoming drones but the missile-strike portion penetrated.