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. <\/p>\n
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\u2019s Transport Ministry.<\/p>\n
The flight disruptions hit Moscow\u2019s Sheremetyevo and St. Petersburg\u2019s main Pulkovo airports. Other airports in western and central Russia also faced disruptions.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Defense Ministry said. It did not clarify how many had hit targets, or how many had been launched in total.<\/p>\n
Early on Sunday, Ukrainian drones injured two civilians in Russia\u2019s Belgorod region near the border, its Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.<\/p>\n
Russia pounded Kyiv last week <\/p>\n
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\u2019s all-out invasion. The seven-hour onslaught killed at least two civilians, wounded dozens more and caused widespread damage, Ukraine said, while Moscow ramped up its push<\/a> to capture more of its neighbor\u2019s land.<\/p>\n In total, Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine that night, according to the country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Large-scale Russian drone strikes on Sunday injured three civilians in Kyiv and at least two in Kharkiv, Ukraine\u2019s 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\u2019s power grid were damaged but there were no casualties.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Ukraine seeks to ramp up drone production<\/p>\n 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 \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d more this year.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n His remarks came days after the U.S. paused some shipments of military aid<\/a> to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine\u2019s main European backers are considering how<\/a> they can help pick up the slack. Zelenskyy said plans are afoot to build up Ukraine\u2019s domestic arms industry, but scaling up will take time<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ukraine has previously used homemade drones to hit high-value military targets deep inside Russia, demonstrating its capabilities and denting Moscow\u2019s confidence. Last month, Kyiv said it destroyed more than 40 Russian planes<\/a> stationed at several airfields deep inside Russia in a surprise attack. <\/p>\n Outmanned and outgunned, Ukraine\u2019s army has also turned to drones to compensate for its troop shortage and shore up its defenses. While Russia has ramped up offensives<\/a> this summer on two fronts in Ukraine, analysts say the front isn\u2019t about to collapse.<\/p>\n On Friday, Zelenskyy said he had a \u201cvery important and productive\u201d phone call that day with U.S. President Donald Trump, discussing possible joint drone production alongside U.S-led efforts to end the war<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump described the call as \u201cgood\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been hit very hard, as I said he would. He\u2019s been hit very hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Michelle L. Price contributed to this report from Washington, DC. <\/p>\n