Zelenskyy calls for increase in Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia amid ongoing attacks
Quick Look
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the military to boost long-range drone strikes on Russia to at least 1,000 per day, up from 300, as Russian attacks killed multiple civilians across Ukraine’s Kyiv, Sumy, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions.
- Zelenskyy also addressed reports of CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s Moscow visit, saying Kyiv received information from the U.S. about the meetings.
- Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, about 1,000 km from the front line.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Ukraine has been using long-range drones to strike Russian military and energy targets inside Russian territory as part of its defense strategy amid Russia’s full-scale invasion. Peace negotiations have stalled, prompting both sides to escalate military pressure while maintaining limited diplomatic communication through backchannels.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on his military to increase its long-range drone strikes against Russia as Moscow continues to carry out deadly attacks across Ukraine.
In his evening address on Friday, Zelenskyy said he plans for the army to launch at least “1,000 drones” against Russia daily, a more than threefold jump from the current estimate of 300.
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“There needs to be more,” the president said. “There is a concrete goal, and we will fulfil this task.”
In a Telegram post, Zelenskyy also addressed reports that the United States’s spy chief, John Ratcliffe, had visited Moscow for meetings.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv “received information from the American side about the meetings in Moscow that took place these days”, but did not elaborate further.
“There were a number of meetings there,” he added, thanking the US “for the information and for the necessary tone of the conversation with Russia”.
The Kremlin confirmed Ratcliffe met Russian intelligence officials in Moscow, but said there were “no meetings of any kind with the Russian president”.
The CIA director’s visit to Moscow marked a rare high-level direct intelligence engagement amid stalled peace negotiations.
Deaths across Ukraine
Ongoing Russian attacks have killed several people and wounded dozens across Ukraine over the past day.
At least one person was killed and two others injured in the Kyiv region early on Friday, regional Governor Tymur Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.
A drone strike on the northeastern Sumy region meanwhile killed one 61-year-old man and wounded seven people, four of whom were hospitalised, according to the regional military administration.
Russian air and artillery attacks also descended on Kherson overnight on Friday, killing a 61-year-old man and injuring 11 others, including a child, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Strikes continued at multiple intervals throughout the day across Kherson, located in southern Ukraine near the Black Sea.
And in the Kharkiv region to the northeast, shelling killed a 26-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, the local administration said. Another 13 people were injured, including two children.
Meanwhile in Russia, Ukraine’s army struck an oil refinery in the Yaroslavl region, located about 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) from the front line, according to Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian president earlier wrote on Telegram that Kyiv’s military intelligence had proven the “high effectiveness” of strikes on military production and oil facilities deep in Russian territory, squeezing Moscow’s fuel supplies and export revenue while dealing “significant” damage to its solid-fuel rocket engine manufacturing.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Ukraine will continue to increase long-range drone strikes on Russian military and energy targets in the coming weeks.
Likely · Within weeks
Russia will retaliate with increased aerial or missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in response to strikes on its oil refineries.
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What specific types of drones will Ukraine use to reach the 1,000-per-day target?
- How will increased drone production affect Ukraine’s defense budget and supply chains?
- Will the U.S. provide additional intelligence or equipment to support Ukraine’s expanded drone campaign?
- What is Russia’s likely response to increased Ukrainian strikes on its energy infrastructure?
