Kyiv [Ukraine], July 5: Number of UAVs and missiles "record high"
The Ukrainian Air Force yesterday (July 4) accused Russia of launching 539 unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAVs ) and 11 missiles targeting Ukrainian territory on the night of July 3 and early morning of July 4. This is the record number of UAVs and missiles launched by Russia into Ukraine in one night in the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has lasted for more than 3 years, according to AFP quoting a representative of the Ukrainian Air Force named Yuriy Ignat.
The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have destroyed 478 UAVs and missiles launched by Russia during the night, according to The Kyiv Independent. Authorities in the capital Kyiv (Ukraine) accused the new Russian attack of injuring at least 23 people, destroying railway infrastructure and burning down many buildings along with cars in the city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the new attack as showing Russia's unwillingness to end the conflict.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had successfully struck military targets in Kyiv on the night of July 3 and early July 4 with long-range, high-precision weapons and that Russian troops had taken control of a village in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to Reuters. The Russian Defense Ministry also said the airstrikes had targeted Ukrainian drone factories, a military airport and an oil refinery.
On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its air defense systems had intercepted or destroyed 48 UAVs launched by Ukraine into five Russian provinces on the night of July 3 and early morning of July 4. Mr. Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, confirmed that UAVs had attacked many targets in Russia in the early morning of July 4, according to The Kyiv Independent.
Mr. Trump is disappointed.
The massive Russian attack on Ukraine came hours after US President Donald Trump ended a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Reuters. When asked about the call, President Trump said "no progress was made with him (President Putin - NV )" on efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine.
President Trump later said he was disappointed with the latest phone call because he thought President Putin did not want to stop Russia's military campaign in Ukraine. "I don't think he wants to stop and that's bad," Reuters quoted President Trump as saying. The US leader added that he would speak with President Zelensky on July 4 (US time).
The new phone call between President Putin and President Trump lasted nearly an hour and the two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, among other issues, TASS news agency quoted Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov as saying. During the call, President Putin reiterated that Russia remains open to peace talks, but will not back down until the "core causes" of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are eliminated.
During the call, the two leaders did not discuss the US halting some promised arms deliveries to Ukraine, according to Reuters, citing a summary of the call provided by Mr. Ushakov. President Trump stressed on July 3 that "we have not" completely halted arms deliveries to Ukraine, but said his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, had sent so much weaponry to Kyiv that it risked undermining US defense capabilities.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper