NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he was consulting allies on how to continue providing Ukraine with urgently needed air defense systems after a Russian missile and drone barrage killed 17 people in Kiev and the surrounding region.
Rutte said he discussed the latest attacks on Ukrainian cities during a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 28 missiles, including 24 ballistic missiles, and 115 drones overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. It reported shooting down 98 drones but none of the missiles.
Ukrainian authorities said 17 people were killed and at least 44 others wounded in Kiev and nearby areas.
“Ballistic interceptors are what could have saved the lives of those killed today,” Zelensky said, urging Ukraine’s partners to accelerate decisions on further air defense support.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces targeted transport, logistics and distribution facilities in Kiev and the surrounding region.
Russian attacks continued on Thursday, killing two women and a man in Balakliya in the northeastern Kharkiv region, local officials said. Separate strikes wounded 13 people in Sumy and two in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Separately, German authorities opened a counterterrorism investigation after an explosive device was found attached to a drone in a restricted area near a runway at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Flights were temporarily disrupted.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called the incident “a new quality of danger.” Authorities have not identified those responsible or linked the incident to Russia.
