Ukraine’s Zelenskyy plans to hit Russia with ‘1,000 drones’ a day

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on his military to growth its long-range drone strikes against Russia as Moscow continues to carry out deadly attacks throughout Ukraine.

Key points

• Meanwhile in Russia, Ukraine's army struck an oil refinery in the Yaroslavl region, located regarding 1, 000 kilometres (621 miles) from the front line, according to Zelenskyy.
• Russian air and artillery attacks additionally descended on Kherson overnight on Friday, killing a 61-year-old man and injuring 11 others, including a child, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin stated.
• In a Telegram post, Zelenskyy additionally addressed reports that the United States's spy chief, John Ratcliffe, had visited Moscow for meetings.
• At least one person was killed and two others injured in the Kyiv region early on Friday, regional Governor Tymur Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.
• And in the Kharkiv region to the northeast, shelling killed a 26-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, the local administration remarked.

In his evening address on Friday, Zelenskyy remarked he aims for the army to launch at least "1, 000 drones" against Russia daily, a more than threefold jump from the current estimate of 300.

"There needs to be more, " the president remarked. "There is a concrete goal, and we will fulfil this task."

Zelenskyy remarked 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 continued, thanking the US "for the information and for the necessary tone of the conversation with Russia".

In practice, the Kremlin confirmed Ratcliffe met Russian intelligence authorities in Moscow, but stated there were "no meetings of any kind with the Russian president".

For context, the CIA director's visit to Moscow marked a rare high-level direct intelligence engagement against the backdrop of stalled peace negotiations.

Ongoing Russian attacks have killed a number of residents and wounded dozens throughout Ukraine over the past day.

In practice, a drone strike on the northeastern Sumy region meanwhile killed one 61-year-old man and wounded seven individuals, four of whom were hospitalised, according to the regional military administration.

Russian air and artillery attacks additionally descended on Kherson overnight on Friday, killing a 61-year-old man and injuring 11 others, including a child, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin stated. Strikes continued at multiple intervals throughout the day throughout 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 remarked. Another 13 individuals were injured, including two children.

Notably, 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.

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