Ukrainian officials have said that Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the war on Monday, firing 479 kamikaze drones and 20 missiles at targets across the country.
The Ukrainian Air Force claimed that 460 of the drones were intercepted and that it recorded a total of 10 successful strikes. According to the Kyiv Post, one of the targets appeared to be an airfield in northwestern Ukraine’s Rivne Oblast, which is believed to be housing US-made F-16 fighter jets.
The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged a strike on an airfield in Rivne, saying its strikes were part of its response to Ukraine’s recent drone attack that targeted airfields deep inside Russia.
“Last night, the Russian forces carried out a massive strike with high-accuracy long-range air-based weapons on one of the airfields where Ukrainian tactical aircraft are based in the area of Dubno, the Rovno Region,” the Defense Ministry said.
One person was reported killed in Rivne, according to The New York Times. Ukraine also launched a significant attack on Russian territory on Monday, as the Russian Defense Ministry said it downed 49 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions.
In Russia’s Kursk Oblast, the governor said a Ukrainian strike hit a cultural center, killing a 64-year-old man and injuring five other people.
On top of the drone attacks, fighting raged along the frontlines, with Russia claiming that its forces inflicted huge casualties on Ukrainian forces. “The Ukrainian army lost up to 1,350 troops in battles with Russian forces in all the frontline areas over the past 24 hours,” Russia’s TASS news agency reported, citing Defense Ministry numbers.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that it expanded the territory it controls in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, an area Russia first said it pushed into on Sunday.
The massive military operations follow the pattern of escalating strikes in recent weeks as ceasefire negotiations have appeared to make no progress. One result of the direct talks between Russia and Ukraine has been prisoner swaps, and another one was conducted on Monday amid the heavy fighting.
