Ukraine strikes Russian missile systems in Crimea as Kyiv faces drone assault – live

Russian forces fired missiles and drones at the Kyiv region and five other areas of Ukraine in a nighttime attack, officials said Wednesday, ahead of several days of intense diplomatic activity around the war that is now in its third year.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 29 out of 30 air targets, including four cruise missiles, one Kinzhal ballistic missile, and 24 Shahed drones. Several people were injured, authorities said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the air force’s response, calling it a “daily achievement.” He has repeatedly appealed to Ukraine’s Western partners to provide more air defense systems, and the United States has agreed to send another Patriot missile system, two U.S. officials said late Tuesday.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky renewed a call for weapons to fortify the country’s defence systems, following an overnight Russian attack on Kyiv and several other regions.

In a post on X, he wrote: “ Our air defenders responded effectively, shooting down five enemy missiles and more than 20 drones.

“Such a result in protecting lives can be our daily achievement if we have enough tools to repel terrorist attacks. I am grateful to all of our partners who understand this and work together with us to boost our resilience in this daily fight for life.”

Ukraine‘s military said it hit three Russian surface-to-air missile systems in Moscow-occupied Crimea overnight, its second reported strike on air defences on the peninsula this week.

Strikes targeted an S-300 system and two more advanced S-400 systems near Belbek and Sevastopol, Ukraine‘s general staff said on Wednesday.

“As a result of the strikes, two radars of the S-300 and S-400 complexes were destroyed. Information about the third radar is being clarified,” it said on Telegram.

Reuters could not verify the report independently.

Hungary will not block NATO decisions on providing support for Ukraine but has agreed that it will not be involved, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday during a visit to Budapest by the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Hungary has been at odds with other NATO countries over Orban’s continued cultivation of close ties to Russia and refusal to send arms to Ukraine, with Budapest’s foreign minister last month labelling plans to help the war-torn nation a “crazy mission”.

“Hungary made clear today that it will not block decisions by NATO which, although they differ from our rational assessment of the situation, are shared and advocated by the rest of the alliance,” Orban told a news conference.

Stoltenberg’s visit to Budapest came a day after a summit of leaders of eastern flank NATO states in the Latvian capital Riga. Hungary did not attend, in a sign of its differences with many of its neighbours over support for Ukraine.

“What the prime minister and I have agreed today is that Hungary will not block other allies to agree a pledge for financial support for Ukraine and for a leading role for NATO in coordinating the support for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.

“I am confident that when NATO leaders meet in Washington we will be able to finalise agreement on these issues.”

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Russia said on Wednesday that soldiers and sailors from its northern Leningrad military district bordering NATO members Norway, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania took part in drills to deploy tactical nuclear weapons.

The move appears to broaden the disclosed geography of the nuclear drills to include soldiers from military districts which cover almost all of Russia‘s European border, which stretches from the Arctic Ocean down to the Black Sea.

Vladimir Putin ordered the drills, which were announced last month to take place in the Southern Military district bordering Ukraine, after what Russia said were signals from Western officials that they would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with Western weapons.

“The personnel of the Leningrad Military District missile unit are practicing combat training tasks,” Russia‘s defence ministry said in a statement about the drills.

These included obtaining special training ammunition for the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system, equipping launch vehicles with them and covertly advancing to the designated position area for preparations for missile launches, it added.

“The crews of navy ships involved in the training will equip sea-based cruise missiles with special mock warheads and enter designated patrol areas,” the ministry said.

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Two Indian men recruited by the Russian army have been killed in Ukraine, India’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

This week, the US removed restrictions on the transfer of weapons and training to a high-profile Ukrainian military unit with an accusation of having far-right links.

The move will help the Azov Brigade, among Ukraine’s most effective and popular fighting units, move beyond its reputation as a far-right movement, a perception its commanders have been trying to dispel as Russian propaganda.

“This is a new page in our unit’s history,” the Azov Brigade wrote in a statement on Instagram. “Azov is becoming even more powerful, even more professional and even more dangerous for occupiers.”

“Obtaining western weapons and training from the United States will not only increase the combat ability of Azov, but most importantly, contribute to the preservation of the lives and the health of personnel,” the statement said.