By ILLIA NOVIKOV, Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 100 drones at civilian areas of Ukraine overnight, authorities said Monday, as the Kremlin dismissed its transportation chief after a weekend of travel chaos when airports grounded hundreds of flights during the busy vacation season due to the threat of attacks from Kyiv.
At least 10 civilians were killed and 38 injured, including three children, in Russian attacks over the previous 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia recently has intensified its airstrikes on civilian areas after more than three years of war. In the past week, Russia launched some 1,270 drones, 39 missiles and almost 1,000 powerful glide bombs at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Russia’s bigger army is also trying hard to break through at some points along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620 miles) front line, where Ukrainian forces are severely stretched.
The strain of keeping Russia’s invasion at bay, the lack of progress in direct peace talks, and last week’s halt of some promised U.S. weapons shipments has compelled Ukraine to seek more military help from the U.S. and Europe.
Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukraine had signed deals with European allies and a leading U.S. defense company to step up drone production, ensuring Kyiv receives “hundreds of thousands” more this year.
“Air defense is the main thing for protecting life,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram on Monday.
That includes developing and manufacturing interceptor drones that can stop Russia’s long-range Shahed drones, he said.
Extensive use of drones has also helped Ukraine compensate for its troop shortages on the front line.
One person was killed in the southern city of Odesa, 27 were injured in northeastern Kharkiv and falling drone debris caused damage in two districts of Kyiv, the capital, during nighttime drone attacks, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russian short-range drones also killed two people and injured two others in the northern Sumy region, officials said. Sumy is one of the places where Russia has concentrated large numbers of troops.
Also, nine people were injured and seven killed in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, regional head Vadym Filashkin said. He didn’t specify the weapons used.
More Russian long-range drone strikes Monday targeted military mobilization centers for the third time in five days, in an apparent attempt to disrupt recruitment, Ukraine’s Army Ground Forces command said.
Regional officials in Kharkiv and southern Zaporizhzhia said at least 17 people were injured.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday that its troops shot down 91 Ukrainian drones in 13 Russian regions overnight, as well as over the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt on Monday, an order published on the Kremlin website said.
Putin named Starovoyt’s deputy, Andrey Nikitin, as acting transport minister. Nikitkin was the governor of Russia’s Novgorod region until February.
The announcement gave no reason for Starovoyt’s dismissal. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on it.
Over the weekend, hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo and St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airports, and thousands of travelers faced long waits. Other airports in western and central Russia also faced disruptions because of Ukrainian drone attacks.
Associated Press writer Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed.
