Russia's Deadly Attack Shakes Kyiv As Ukraine Lobbies Aid

The impact of the Russian attack on Ukraine/DOK PHOTO via Instagram @mfa_ukraine

JAKARTA - Hundreds of Russian drones and more than a dozen missiles rained down the Ukrainian capital on Thursday morning, killing two people in the second major airstrike in Ukraine in the past two days.

Kyiv is now seeking important assistance from his partners at a meeting in Rome.

Nine people were injured and damage reported in almost every district in Kyiv in the attack.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack involved about 400 unmanned aircraft and 18 missiles, which primarily targeted the capital.

Reported by Reuters on Thursday, July 10, explosions and gunfire of anti-aircraft machine guns rocked the city. Windowes broke, building facilities were destroyed, and cars burned to pieces, including in the city center where apartments were eight floors engulfed in flames.

"This is terror because it happens every night when people are sleeping," said Karyna Volf, a 25-year-old Kyiv resident who rushed out of her apartment moments before the shards of glass rained down on her house.

Ukraine's air defenses managed to stop all but a few dozen drones, authorities said.

Russia's increasingly intensive attacks in recent weeks have weighed on Ukraine's air defenses as the crisis of war, which is now entering its fourth year, and forced residents in Kyiv and elsewhere across the country to take refuge in bomb shelters overnight.

The attack on Thursday came a day after Russia launched a record 728 drones in Ukraine.

"Buildings, vehicles, warehouse facilities, offices, and non-residential buildings are on fire," said Tymur Tkachenko, head of military administration Kyiv, via the Telegram messaging application.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it attacked targets of "military industry" in Kyiv as well as military airfields.

ROME CONFERENCE

Zelenskyy and other top Ukrainian officials were in Rome on Thursday to attend a recovery conference to lobby Kyiv allies to get more important defense weapons and investments in the war-torn Ukrainian economy.

Zelenskyy urged European allies to be "more active" using Russian assets frozen during the war for Ukraine's reconstruction.

After US President Donald Trump pledged earlier this week to send more defense weapons to Kyiv, Washington resumed deliveries of artillery shells and rocket artillery missiles moving to Ukraine, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

Ukraine is also looking for more Patriot air defense systems that have proven important to defend against fast-moving Russian ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy, who has held "substantive" talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg on Wednesday, will also meet with American officials to discuss the potential for new US sanctions against Russia.

Trump is increasingly frustrated with President Vladimir Putin, saying that the Russian leader has made a lot of "empty words" against US efforts to end Moscow's war on Ukraine in February 2022.