Russia ramps up drone strikes on Ukraine after Trump’s re-election
Russia launched a wave of drone strikes overnight across Ukraine, killing at least six people and injuring around 30 across the southern and eastern regions of Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia.
An Iranian-made suicide drone smashed into the city of Mykolaiv, damaging apartments, four shops, two cars, while a fire broke out in a multistorey building. Five people were killed and a 45-year-old woman was injured, according to the region’s authorities.
One person was killed in the Zaporizhzhia region, where a residential building was destroyed, the governor of the region said on the Telegram. Among 21 injured in Zaporizhzhia were five children between the ages of four and 17.
Meanwhile in Kyiv, blasts and air raid sirens rang out following the launch of Russian missile attacks on Monday. “The air alert is related to the launch of cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers,” the air force said on its Telegram channel. There were no reported casualties.
The Ukrainian air force said later that it shot down two missiles and 39 out of 74 drones launched by Russia overnight. Russian forces also launched 145 drones at Ukraine overnight on Saturday, in what officials say is the largest number of drones fired at the country in a single night.
Russia has ramped up drone attacks on Ukraine since the election of Donald Trump on Wednesday. The president-elect regularly said in his election campaign that he could end the war “in a day” but has not offered details on how he would do that.
On Sunday The Washington Post reported that Trump had already spoken with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, warning him not to escalate the war in Ukraine. On Monday the Kremlin denied this, saying Putin had no specific plans to speak to Trump. “This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it’s just false information,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “There was no conversation.”
Trump also spoke to the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky. Amid the uncertainty of a second Trump presidency, both nations have escalated their aerial strikes on each other’s territory in recent days.
Russia’s defence ministry said it intercepted 84 Ukrainian drones over six regions over the weekend, with some heading towards Moscow, forcing flights to be diverted from three of the capital’s major airports. The attack is also believed by Ukrainian officials to be its biggest on Moscow since the war began, as Kyiv seeks to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
In Ramenskoye, south-west of Moscow, five people were injured and four houses caught fire due to falling debris, the Russian Ministry of Defence said. It added that 34 drones had been shot down over the town.
Further strikes were reported overnight into Monday, with Russia saying it had destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones near the regions of Kursk and Belgorod.
Russian troops reportedly made their largest territorial gains since March 2022 only last month, according to analysis of Institute for the Study of War data by the AFP news agency.
However, Russian forces also suffered an average of about 1,500 dead and injured “every single day” in October, according to Sir Tony Radakin, the UK’s chief of defence staff. This is the equivalent of 46,000 troops – more than half the size of the British army.
As Russia makes steady gains using its “meat-grinder” tactics, where soldiers are used as cannon fodder to overwhelm Ukrainian forces, Radakin also stressed the importance of continuing to back Ukraine following Trump’s re-election.
The Defence Secretary, John Healey, said on Monday he expected the incoming Trump administration to remain committed to Nato and to Ukraine. He told Sky News: “As far as President Trump goes, he recognises that countries get security through strength, just as alliances like Nato do.
“And I expect the US to remain alongside allies like the UK, standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes to prevail over Putin’s invasion.
“I don’t expect the US to turn away from Nato. They recognise the importance of the alliance. They recognise the importance of avoiding further conflict in Europe.”
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is expected to discuss the likely impact of a second Trump presidency when he holds talks with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday.
Before attending a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the two leaders are expected to discuss Russia’s ongoing invasion, Downing Street said.
