JAKARTA - Ukraine is seeing "significant gains" from air defense systems provided by the United States and Germany, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, despite a wave of Russian airstrikes that Kyiv said were targeting civilians and residential buildings.
Russia reports it has shot down a Moscow-bound drone in its third strike in the past week. Meanwhile, officials on both sides said Ukraine had attacked two bridges linking Crimea with the mainland.
The two countries have stepped up attacks on troops, weapons and infrastructure supporting each other's war, as Ukraine seeks to repel Russian troops that have pushed into southern and eastern Ukraine since their invasion last year.
The head of Crimea appointed by Moscow said the Chonhar bridge leading to the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, had been damaged by a missile strike, citing Reuters, August 7.
Another of three road links between Crimea and the Russian-occupied mainland Ukraine, near the city of Henichesk, was shelled and a civilian driver was injured, a Moscow-appointed official said.
In a video address Sunday evening President Zelensky said advanced air defense systems, including the US-made Patriot and German-made IRIS-T, had proven "highly effective" and had "provided significant results."
President Zelensky said Ukraine had shot down most of the Russian strikes over the past week, including 65 missiles of various types and 178 drones, including 87 Iranian-made Shaheds.
The Ukrainian military later said Russia had launched 30 missiles and 48 airstrikes.
"Unfortunately, there have been fatalities and injuries among the civilian population. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure have been damaged," the military said in a statement.
The attack followed what President Zelensky said was a bomb attack late Saturday on a blood transfusion center in the city of Kupiansk, about 16 km (10 miles) from the front line in the eastern Kharkiv region. He described the attack as a war crime.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians or military hospitals in its massive invasion of Ukraine, which has killed thousands of people, displaced millions and destroyed cities.
Meanwhile, President Zelensky's aide, Mykhailo Podoliak, described the Russian missile strike at the end of last week as a response to Ukraine's offer to Southern countries reluctant to side with a conflict that has hurt the global economy.
VOIR éGALEMENT:
It is known, senior officials from about 40 countries including the United States, China and India held talks on the conflict in Saudi Arabia on Saturday and Sunday. However, the meeting ended with no concrete action other than a commitment to carry out further consultations.
Meanwhile, President Zelensky's Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, said that the discussions were very productive, but did not provide details.
Russia is absent. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the meeting reflected the West's "failed attempt" to mobilize developing countries behind President Zelensky.
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