Zelenskyy says Ukraine expects strong response from West to Russian drone strikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country expects a strong response from Western nations to Russian drone attacks. “We expect a response – a serious one. We are working toward a response. A strong response is urgently needed – above all from the U.S., from Europe, from everyone in the world who has placed their bets on diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said in a video address late Saturday. He said Kyiv’s partners should understand that such attacks target not only Ukrainian civilians but also all international efforts to end the war, which began in February 2022. The Ukrainian president accused Russia of striking positions of “everyone who wants to end this war,” stressing that it is impossible to ignore the hundreds of Russian drones launched at Ukraine every night. He said only pressure will force Russia into peace, adding that Moscow would have signed the cease-fire proposed by the U.S. if there had been “real pressure.” Zelenskyy’s remarks came as local authorities in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region reported a massive drone attack on the region’s administrative center, killing two people and injuring 35 others. Ukraine’s air force claimed on Telegram early Sunday that its air defenses shot down 65 out of 111 drones launched by Russia overnight. It said the attack also affected Ukraine’s Sumy, Odesa, and Donetsk regions. Meanwhile, Ukraine's General Staff late Saturday reported that a military hospital and nearby residential buildings in Kharkiv were damaged in the attack. Over the past week, the U.S. brokered two separate agreements between Russia and Ukraine—one to “ensure safe navigation” in the Black Sea and another for a 30-day halt to strikes on each other’s energy facilities—following talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Despite the deals, Moscow and Kyiv have since traded accusations of violating the pause on strikes against energy facilities. Russia has yet to comment on the latest attack on Kharkiv.