The Russian military launched powerful air attacks on Ukraine, battering the nation with missiles and drones on Good Friday, 1,500 days since Moscow began the war.
“Hundreds of Shahed combat drones and dozens of missiles against our cities and towns,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a social media post after a telephone conversation with Pope Leo XIV.
Zelensky said this was Russia’s response to his offer of a ceasefire over Easter, though churches in Ukraine, as in Russia, mark Easter next week, in line with the Orthodox calendar, on April 12.
At least one person was killed and another injured in the area surrounding Kiev.
The attacks, carried out in broad daylight, also caused power cuts in the Ukrainian capital that is home to 3 million, plus in other areas, local electricity suppliers said.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force said the Russian military deployed more than 500 drones and 37 missiles overnight and during the day. Most of the missiles were intercepted in time, though there were strikes at 20 locations.
In a precautionary measure, the Polish army also scrambled its own interceptor jets, a statement said.
Russia earlier attacked Kharkiv where four missile strikes were recorded overnight, Oleh Syniehubov, the military governor of the Kharkiv region, wrote on Telegram.
Drones were also deployed, he said. In the morning, the police reported five people injured and damage to residential and office buildings.
Ukraine’s second-largest city, which had a population of 1.4 million before the war, lies only about 40 kilometres from the Russian border.
The Ukrainian General Staff said Friday marks the 1,500th day of the large-scale Russian invasion, launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022.
Crimea training flight crash
A Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet crashed during a training flight over the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
The crew were able to eject safely, the Russian Defence Ministry said. The aircraft was not carrying any ammunition, Interfax news agency reported.
Russia has several air bases in Crimea, where Ukrainian attacks have already struck aircraft and air defence systems.
The Su-30 is a two-seater multi-role fighter which was initially developed in the Soviet Union.
Resque crews and police work at the scene after air bombs attack. Multiple people are reported wounded and at least 2 dead. Natasha Rudenko/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa