Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow launches largest aerial attack over 24-hour period since war began – UK Times

Moldova’s parliament approved the introduction of a 60-day energy state of emergency after Russian attacks in neighbouring Ukraine put out of action a power line providing the bulk of the country’s energy needs.

Deputies approved the measure, introduced by Moldova’s pro-European government, with 72 votes in favour in the 101-member chamber yesterday. The opposition Socialists and Communists refused to support the measure.

The Issacea-Vulcanesti line carries power from Romania to Moldova, passing through 40km (25 miles) of Ukrainian territory.

Russia carried out a rare day-long aerial attack on Ukraine yesterday, officials said, firing 948 drones over a 24-hour period and killing at least seven people.

The assault began in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with Ukraine’s air force confirming at least 392 drones and missiles were fired from Russia overnight, including 23 cruise missiles.

The major onslaught was followed by another 556 drones in the daytime, a pattern rarely seen during the four-year war, and making it possibly the largest aerial attack in a single day so far.

Russia launched swarms of Iranian-designed Shahed drones, hitting at least seven cities, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

Kyiv says a long-awaited spring offensive by Russia is now under way along parts of the roughly 1,250-kilometre (750-mile) frontline snaking along eastern and southern Ukraine.

The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian troops have in recent days made simultaneous attempts to break through defensive lines in several strategic areas.

“Fierce fighting unfolded along the entire line of contact,” Syrskyi reported on Monday, saying Russia had launched 619 attacks in four days.

“The occupiers are attempting to bring up new units and are preparing to continue attacks,” Syrskyi said, adding that Ukraine had deployed reinforcements to counter the assaults.

It was not possible to independently verify the battlefield claims.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Syrskyi’s report backed up its assessment that Russia’s spring-summer offensive is now underway.

Russia escalated its strikes from 17 March and has moved heavy equipment and more troops to the front line, the ISW said late Monday.

Libyan authorities were towing a Russian tanker drifting in the Mediterranean for the past three weeks, after the vessel was damaged in a suspected sea drone attack, officials said Tuesday.

The Arctic Metagaz is part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet transporting fossil fuels in violation of international sanctions over Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Libya’s coast guard said that the tanker, which carries liquefied natural gas, was being towed to a safe zone off the town of Zuwara on Libya’s western coast.

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Russia has announced the launch of 16 low-orbit satellites, signalling its ambition to create a competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink network.

The aerospace firm Bureau 1440, which is developing a low-Earth-orbit system for global broadband data, confirmed it deployed its initial batch of operational satellites on Monday.

Despite this step, Russia remains significantly behind Starlink, which has amassed over 10,000 satellites in orbit since its first operational launch in 2019.

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Moldova’s parliament approved the introduction of a 60-day energy state of emergency after Russian attacks in neighbouring Ukraine put out of action a power line providing the bulk of the country’s energy needs.

Deputies approved the measure, introduced by Moldova’s pro-European government, with 72 votes in favour in the 101-member chamber.

The Issacea-Vulcanesti line carries power from Romania to Moldova, passing through 40 km (25 miles) of Ukrainian territory.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on countries to step up pressure on Russia after a mass attack on Ukrainian cities.

In a statement, he said that only additional pressure and significant losses would persuade Moscow to end the four-year-old war against Ukraine.

“The scale of this attack clearly shows that Russia has no real intention of ending this war,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“Without additional and strong pressure on Russia, without tangible losses for them there n Moscow, no desire will develop to move away from the war or return to peace.”

Russia launched the largest aerial attack on Ukraine over a 24-hour period since the war began on Tuesday, pounding Ukrainian cities with 948 drones.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that 556 drones had been fired since 7am GMT on Tuesday, hitting targets including a Unesco World Heritage site in Lviv.

The 17th century St Andrew’s Church, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, is over 400 years old.

At least five people were killed in the attacks, while dozens more were injured.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said that recent battlefield reports support their assessment that Russia’s spring-summer offensive is now underway.

Russia escalated its strikes from March 17 and has moved heavy equipment and more troops to the front line, the ISW said late Monday.

Each year, as the weather improves, Russia has moved its grinding war of attrition up a gear.

However, it has been unable to capture cities and has made only incremental gains across rural areas. Russia occupies about 20 per cent of Ukraine. That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has urged the director-general of UNESCO to condemn Russia’s attack on Lviv’s historic city centre.

The 17th century St Andrew’s Church, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the city, caught fire in the bombardment.

“I urge UNESCO Director-General [Khaled El-Enany] to immediately respond to this crime in the strongest terms,” Sybiha said in a post to X.

He said Kyiv would use “all available mechanisms” to protect its cultural heritage and “ensure accountability”.

“Russia’s brutal violations of international law must be met with accountability,” he said.

He added: “Russia is doing exactly what the Iranian regime is doing in the Middle East, but in the middle of Europe. Russia proves its status of a terrorist state. And this is how it must be dealt with — through strength, not weakness, and increased pressure on all fronts.”