Russia-Ukraine war: Zelensky says US-German air defence system effective against Moscow attacks

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky underlined promising results from the air defence system provided by the US and Germany terming the results to be "significant" as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to intensify with Kiyv shooting down a number of Moscow’s drones.

Russia claimed Monday to have thwarted a Ukrainian drone in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, with no damage to property or people, with regional governor Vladislav Shapsha confirming on Telegram,

The drone, he said, was downed by the anti-aircraft defence system in the Ferzikovsky district overnight, marking it a third attack within a week.

Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, officials on both sides said that Zelenesky’s forces had hit two bridges linking Crimea to the mainland.

Both have increased attacks on each other's troops and infrastructure supporting the war as Ukraine seeks to dislodge its opponent that has gained ground across the southern and eastern parts of the country since its special military operation in February 2022.

The head of Crimea said the Chonhar bridge to the peninsula had been damaged by a missile strike.

"Another of the three road links between Crimea and Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine, near the town of Henichesk, was shelled and a civilian driver wounded," a local official said.

In his video address Sunday, Zelensky said advanced air defence systems, including the US-built Patriot and Germany's IRIS-T, were proving "highly effective" and had "already yielded significant results."

Zelensky said Ukraine had shot down a significant part of Russia's attacks over the past week, which included 65 missiles of various kinds and 178 assault drones, including 87 Shaheds.

Ukraine's military said later that Russia had launched 30 missiles and 48 air strikes.

"Unfortunately, there are casualties and wounded among the civilian population. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure suffered destruction," the military said in a statement.

Zelensky also alleged a Russian bomb attack late Saturday on a blood transfusion centre in the town of Kupiansk, around 16 km (10 miles) from the front in the eastern Kharkiv region.

Russia denies deliberately hitting civilians or military hospitals.

Flight operations on halt in Moscow

Moscow's Vnukovo airport stopped flights Sunday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said a drone had been shot down south of the capital.

Russia's defence ministry said earlier it had conducted successful strikes on Ukrainian air bases in the western Rivne and Khmelnytskyi regions and southern Zaporizhzhia region.

It said its military launched a group strike using long-range and sea-based precision weapons and all the targets had been neutralized.

The deputy governor of the Khmelnytskyi region, Serhiy Tiurin, said a military airfield in Starokostiantyniv was among the targets, adding that most of the missiles were shot down, but explosions had damaged several houses, a cultural institution and the bus station, and a fire had broken out at a grain silo.

Zelensky aide Mykhailo Podoliak characterised the weekend Russian missile attacks as a response to Ukraine's overtures to Global South countries that have been reluctant to take sides in a conflict that has hurt the global economy.

Officials from some 40 countries including the US, China and India held talks about the Russia-Ukraine war Saturday and Sunday, but the meeting ended with no concrete action beyond a commitment to further talks.

Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said the meeting reflected the West's "doomed efforts" to mobilise developing nations behind Zelensky.