President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had begun a new escalation of its aerial campaign, early morning on Thursday, Sept. 3, after overnight attacks caused damage in 13 Ukrainian regions and wounded 17 people in Odesa.
In a Telegram post, Zelensky said emergency crews were responding to attacks in several parts of the country while air raid alerts continued almost without interruption in many cities and communities.
A Russian drone hit a residential high-rise in Odesa, damaging apartments between the 10th and 17th floors. At least 17 people were wounded, including three children.
Emergency services remained at the scene on Thursday morning. The building has 21 stories, according to Reuters.
Authorities were also working to address the consequences of attacks in the Obukhiv and Boryspil districts of the Kyiv Region. State Emergency Service rescuers were battling a fire at a pharmaceutical company’s warehouse.
Zelensky reported additional attacks on Nikopol, Kherson, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Khmelnytskyi. He said damage had been recorded in 13 regions during the night.
Zelensky said Russia was intensifying its attacks and increasingly using jet-powered drones to keep Ukrainian cities under prolonged air raid alerts.
“The enemy did not take a vacation – the Russians have found a new escalation and have no plans to slow it down,” Zelensky said.
Jet-powered drones travel considerably faster than conventional Shahed-type attack drones, reducing the time available for air defenses and civilians to respond.
Ukraine has faced almost continuous Russian aerial assaults in recent days. The attacks have targeted residential buildings, transport facilities, energy infrastructure and other non-military sites across the country.
Ukraine seeks air defenses from Europe
Zelensky urged Ukraine’s partners to step up their response and accelerate European production of air defense systems, particularly weapons capable of intercepting missiles and drones.
He argued that Europe has already developed much of the capacity needed to become stronger and more self-sufficient in defense but must increase production to protect its population and way of life.
“Europe can be self-sufficient and strong – a great deal has already been done for this over the past years,” Zelensky said.
The president added that Ukraine was working with its partners every day to secure new defense packages as Russia expands its use of drones and maintains pressure on cities and economic activity.