Russia launches the biggest aerial attack since the start of the war,
Ukraine says
[June 30, 2025]
By VOLODYMYR YURCHUK
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched its biggest aerial attack against
Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said Sunday, part of an
escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a
breakthrough in efforts to end the 3-year-old war.
Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477
drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these,
249 were shot down and 226 were lost, likely having been electronically
jammed.
The onslaught was “the most massive airstrike” on the country since the
beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, taking into
account both drones and various types of missiles, Yuriy Ihnat, head of
communications for Ukraine’s air force, told The Associated Press. The
attack targeted several regions, including western Ukraine, far from the
front line.
Poland and allied countries scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of
Polish airspace, the country's air force said.
Three people were killed in each of the drone strikes in the Kherson,
Kharkiv and the Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to the three
governors.
Another person was killed by an airstrike in Kostyantynivka, local
officials said. In addition to aerial attacks, a man died when Russian
troops shelled the city of Kherson, and the body of a 70-year-old woman
was found under the rubble of a nine-story building hit by Russian
shelling in the Zaporizhzhia region.
In the far-western Lviv region, a large fire broke out at an industrial
facility in the city of Drohobych following a drone attack that also cut
electricity to parts of the city.
Ukraine’s air force said one of its F-16 warplanes supplied by its
Western partners crashed after sustaining damage while shooting down air
targets. The pilot died.
Russia has recently been improving its drone technology as well as its
tactics, striking Ukraine with increasing success.
Russian troops reportedly advance in Donetsk
Russia's Defense Ministry said it had shot down three Ukrainian drones
overnight.
Two people were wounded in another Ukrainian drone attack on the city of
Bryansk in western Russia, regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said Sunday
morning, adding that seven more Ukrainian drones had been shot down over
the region.
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A Russian drone attacks a building during Russia's massive missile
and drone air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem
Lukatsky, file)
Meanwhile, Russia claimed Sunday that it had taken control of the
village of Novoukrainka in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk
region.
Russian forces have been slowly grinding forward at some points on
the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, though their
incremental gains have been costly in terms of troop casualties and
damaged armor.
In other developments, Russia’s foreign intelligence chief, Sergei
Naryshkin, said he had spoken on the phone with his U.S.
counterpart, CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
“I had a phone call with my American counterpart and we reserved for
each other the possibility to call at any time and discuss issues of
interest to us,” Naryshkin said in remarks to state TV reporter
Pavel Zarubin, who posted them on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
Sunday's attacks follow Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments
two days ago that Moscow is ready for a fresh round of direct peace
talks in Istanbul. Two recent rounds of talks between Russian and
Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and yielded no progress
on reaching a settlement.
Zelenskyy withdraws Ukraine from an anti-land mine pact
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree to withdraw
Ukraine from the Ottawa Convention banning antipersonnel land mines,
a Ukrainian lawmaker said Sunday. The move follows similar recent
steps by the Baltic States and Poland.
The 1997 treaty prohibits the use, production, stockpiling and
transfer of antipersonnel land mines in an effort to protect
civilians from explosives that can maim or kill long after fighting
ends.
“This is a step that the reality of war has long demanded,” said
Roman Kostenko, secretary of the Ukrainian parliamentary committee
on national security, defense and intelligence. He noted that Russia
is not a party to the convention "and is massively using mines
against our military and civilians.”
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