Ukraine hit by Russian bombers, missiles and drones

Russia used strategic bombers, cruise missiles and killer drones in a wave of attacks across Ukraine early Friday, while Moscow’s military push that Kyiv says has been brewing for days appeared to pick up pace in eastern areas ahead of the one-year anniversary of its invasion.

Russian forces have launched 71 cruise missiles, 35 S-300 missiles and seven Shahed drones since late Thursday, Ukraine’s military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said.

Ukrainian forces downed 61 cruise missiles and five drones, he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has campaigned for more Western support against Russia’s military ambitions, said: “This is terror that can and must be stopped.”

Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s ground forces were focusing on Ukraine’s industrial east, the Ukrainian military said. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces there since 2014.

The Kremlin is striving to secure areas it illegally annexed last September — the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions

— and where it claims its rule is welcomed, Kyiv officials say.

In the Donetsk region, local Ukrainian officials reported that the Russian military deployed additional troops and launched offensive operations. “There is a daily escalation and Russian attacks are becoming active throughout the region,” Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

In Luhansk province, the Russian army is trying to punch through Ukrainian defenses, according to regional Gov. Serhii Haidai.

“The situation is deteriorating, the enemy is constantly attacking, the Russians are bringing in a large amount of heavy equipment and aircraft,” Haidai said.

There has been little change in battlefield positions for weeks amid freezing winter conditions.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Moscow targeted the power supply in “another attempt to destroy the Ukrainian energy system and deprive Ukrainians of light, heat, water.”

Also Friday, Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said that a missile was detected traversing its airspace near the border with Ukraine. Moldova’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the Russian ambassador in Chisinau has been summoned for talks over the “unacceptable violation.”

EFREM LUKATSKY/AP People gather Friday in a subway station being used as a bomb shelter during a Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. Of the 71 cruise missiles launched by Russia since late Thursday, Ukraine has downed 61.