Russia Strikes Ukraine With 100 Drones, Fires Transport Minister/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Russia launched over 100 drone attacks across Ukraine overnight, killing at least 10 civilians and injuring dozens more. Meanwhile, President Putin fired his transport minister amid widespread flight chaos following Ukrainian drone threats. Ukraine continues seeking aid to counter Russia’s intensifying assaults and air raids. Russian’s transport minister was found dead Monday, hours after being dismissed by President Vladimir Putin, in what officials said was an apparent suicide. Roman Starovoyt, who served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024, was fired in a presidential decree earlier in the day. His dismissal came after a weekend of travel chaos when airports grounded hundreds of flights during the busy vacation season due to the threat of attacks from Kyiv.
Quick Look
- Russia fires over 100 drones into Ukraine overnight
- At least 10 civilians killed, dozens injured in strikes
- Kremlin dismisses transport minister after airport chaos
- Ukraine pushes for more Western military and drone aid
- Drone attacks disrupt travel across major Russian cities
- Kyiv hit by debris from falling drones during attacks
- Russia claims downing 91 Ukrainian drones overnight
- Putin’s reshuffle signals domestic strain amid ongoing war
Russia Launches Over 100 Drone Strikes on Ukraine as Kremlin Sacks Transport Minister Amid Travel Chaos
Deep Look
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia unleashed more than 100 drones on civilian targets across Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian officials said Monday, while the Kremlin abruptly fired its transportation minister after widespread travel disruptions paralyzed Russian airports over the busy holiday weekend.
At least 10 civilians were killed and 38 wounded in Russian strikes over the past 24 hours, including three children, Ukrainian authorities reported.
Russia has escalated aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns as the war grinds past its third year. In the past week alone, Russian forces have launched about 1,270 drones, 39 missiles, and nearly 1,000 powerful glide bombs at Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, Russia’s larger army is pressing offensives to break through Ukrainian defenses, stretching Kyiv’s troops thin.
Ukraine has urgently appealed for more military aid from the United States and European partners, particularly after Washington paused some planned weapons shipments last week.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy announced new agreements with European allies and a major U.S. defense manufacturer to ramp up domestic drone production, aiming to secure “hundreds of thousands” of drones this year.
“Air defense is the main thing for protecting life,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram Monday, stressing the importance of building interceptor drones to counter Russia’s Shahed drone attacks.
Ukrainian officials said drones are increasingly vital to offset manpower shortages along the front.
Among the latest casualties, one person was killed in the southern city of Odesa, while 27 people were injured in northeastern Kharkiv. Falling drone debris damaged buildings in two districts of Kyiv during nighttime attacks, authorities said.
In northern Sumy region, Russian short-range drone strikes killed two people and injured two others, officials reported. Sumy remains one of the regions under significant Russian military pressure.
In eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, regional head Vadym Filashkin said seven people were killed and nine injured, though he did not detail the weapons used.
Russia has also intensified attacks on Ukraine’s military mobilization centers, striking them for the third time in five days on Monday, in what Kyiv believes is an effort to hamper recruitment efforts. Officials in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia said at least 17 people were injured in these strikes.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its forces shot down 91 Ukrainian drones overnight across 13 Russian regions, as well as over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
In a sudden political shake-up, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt on Monday, according to an order published on the Kremlin’s website. No official reason was provided for the decision. Starovoyt’s deputy, Andrey Nikitin—who previously served as governor of Russia’s Novgorod region until February—was appointed acting transport minister.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the dismissal.
Over the weekend, hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Other airports in western and central Russia experienced similar disruptions, all linked to heightened Ukrainian drone attacks.
The travel chaos underscores how the conflict’s ripple effects are increasingly felt inside Russia’s own borders.
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