KYIV: A Russian drone barrage targeted the centre of Kharkiv on Friday (Jul 11), injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second-largest city, officials said.

Mothers with newborns were being evacuated to a different medical facility, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram. He did not say whether anyone at the hospital was among the injured.

Russia’s recent escalation of long-range Shahed drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, which often also include ballistic and cruise missiles as well as powerful glide bombs, has brought renewed urgency to efforts to improve Ukraine’s air defences after more than three years of war.

“There is no silence in Ukraine,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the Kharkiv bombardment. Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has endured repeated and intensifying drone attacks in recent weeks, as have many other regions of the country.

June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.

At the same time, Russia’s bigger army is pressing hard on parts of the 1,000-kilometre front line, where thousands of soldiers on both sides have died since the Kremlin ordered the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelenskyy urged Ukraine’s Western partners to quickly enact pledges of help they made at an international meeting in Rome on Thursday.

Ukraine desperately needs more US-made Patriot air defence systems to stop Russian missiles and more interceptor drones to bring down the Russia-made Shaheds, he said. Russia reportedly has expedited drone production, and Zelenskyy said Moscow plans to manufacture up to 1,000 drones a day.

TALKS WITH TRUMP "VERY CONSTRUCTIVE"

Zelenskyy said Thursday that talks with US President Donald Trump have been “very constructive,” even though the administration has given conflicting signals about its readiness to provide more vital military aid. Zelenskyy said he is minded to replace his ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, with Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.

Ukraine has asked foreign countries to supply it with another 10 Patriot systems and missiles, Zelenskyy said. Germany is ready to buy two systems and Norway has agreed to buy one, which will be passed on to Ukraine, he said.

Trump said late Thursday that the US is sending weapons to other NATO countries, which are paying Washington for them and giving them to Ukraine. In an interview with NBC, Trump didn’t specifically refer to Patriot systems.

He said he would make “a major statement” on Russia on Monday. He didn’t elaborate, but Zelenskyy has long pleaded for tighter economic sanctions on Moscow.

A new bipartisan US sanctions package, which aims to force Russia to the negotiating table, could go to a vote in the Senate before the August recess, its backers Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The bill calls for a 500 per cent tariff on goods from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. It takes aim at nations such as China and India, which account for roughly 70 per cent of Russia’s energy trade and bankroll much of its war effort.

After repeated Russian drone and missile onslaughts in Kyiv, authorities announced Friday they are establishing a comprehensive drone interception system under a project called “Clear Sky.”

US$6.2M INVESTMENT IN "CLEAR SKY" DEFENCE

The project includes a US$6.2 million investment in interceptor drones, operator training, and new mobile response units, according to the head of the Kyiv Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko.

Zelenskyy appealed to foreign partners to help Ukraine accelerate the production of the newly developed interceptor drones, which have proved successful against Shaheds.

“We found a solution, as a country, scientists and engineers found a solution. That’s the key,” he said. “We need financing. And then, we will intercept.”

Russian drones strike Ukraine, damaging maternity hospital