Russia and Ukraine struck each other with hundreds of drones on Sunday, throwing Russian air travel in disarray, shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced deals with Western partners that would allow Kyiv to scale up drone production.
Photos circulating on social media showed crowds huddling at Russian airports including key international hubs in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled due to Ukrainian drone strikes on Saturday and overnight, according to Russia鈥檚 Transport Ministry.
The flight disruptions hit Moscow鈥檚 Sheremetyevo and St. Petersburg鈥檚 main Pulkovo airports. Other airports in western and central Russia also faced disruptions.
Russian air defenses shot down 120 Ukrainian drones during the nighttime attacks, and 39 more before 2 p.m. Moscow time (1100 GMT) on Sunday, Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry said. It did not clarify how many had hit targets, or how many had been launched in total.
Early on Sunday, Ukrainian drones injured two civilians in Russia鈥檚 Belgorod region near the border, its Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Russia pounded Kyiv last week
The Ukrainian attacks came just days after Russia pummelled Kyiv with waves of drones and missiles overnight into Friday, in what Ukrainian officials called the largest such strike since Moscow鈥檚 all-out invasion. The seven-hour onslaught killed at least two civilians, wounded dozens more and caused widespread damage, Ukraine said, while Moscow to capture more of its neighbor鈥檚 land.
In total, Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine that night, according to the country鈥檚 air force. The barrages have coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure.
Large-scale Russian drone strikes on Sunday injured three civilians in Kyiv and at least two in Kharkiv, Ukraine鈥檚 second-largest city in the northeast, officials said. A Russian attack involving Shahed drones also targeted port infrastructure in Mykolaiv in central Ukraine, according to local Gov. Vitaliy Kim. He reported warehouses and the port鈥檚 power grid were damaged but there were no casualties.
Hours later, Russia launched a glide bomb and a drone at the front-line town of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine, killing four civilians and injuring a fifth, the prosecutor鈥檚 office said. The drone struck a car in which a married couple were travelling, killing the 39-year-old woman and 40-year-old man on the spot, it said.
Ukraine seeks to ramp up drone production
Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukraine had inked deals with European allies and a leading U.S. defense company to step up drone production, ensuring Kyiv receives 鈥渉undreds of thousands鈥 more this year.
Zelenskyy did not name the U.S. business in his nightly video address to Ukrainians, but said Ukraine and Denmark have also agreed to co-produce drones and other weapons on Danish soil.
His remarks came days after the U.S. to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine鈥檚 main European backers they can help pick up the slack. Zelenskyy said plans are afoot to build up Ukraine鈥檚 domestic arms industry, but .
Ukraine has previously used homemade drones to hit high-value military targets deep inside Russia, demonstrating its capabilities and denting Moscow鈥檚 confidence. Last month, stationed at several airfields deep inside Russia in a surprise attack.
Outmanned and outgunned, Ukraine鈥檚 army has also turned to drones to compensate for its troop shortage and shore up its defenses. While Russia has this summer on two fronts in Ukraine, analysts say the front isn鈥檛 about to collapse.
On Friday, Zelenskyy said he had a 鈥渧ery important and productive鈥 phone call that day with U.S. President Donald Trump, discussing possible joint drone production alongside .
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump described the call as 鈥済ood鈥.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been hit very hard, as I said he would. He鈥檚 been hit very hard,鈥 he said.
___
Michelle L. Price contributed to this report from Washington, DC.
Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of the war in Ukraine at
