Russia continues to ignore Western calls for a 30-day ceasefire, launching another massive air attack on Ukraine overnight.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the assault included 145 Shahed drones and drone simulators, along with a ballistic missile.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
Starting at 19:30 on Tuesday, May 13, Russia launched an Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missile from occupied Crimea and waves of Shahed drones from multiple directions.
Ukrainian air defense – including aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups – responded to the attack.
“As of 09:00, it has been confirmed that 80 Shahed attack UAVs [and other types of drone] were shot down in the east, north, west, and center of the country,” the Air Force reported.
In addition, 42 Russian simulator drones were lost from tracking without causing any harm.
The regions affected included Sumy, Kharkiv, Odesa, Donetsk, and Kirovohrad, with further attacks reported on Wednesday morning in the Rivne region.
Rivne’s Regional Military Administration head, Oleksandr Koval, wrote on Telegram:
“It was an alarming morning in the Rivne region. Air defense forces neutralized 4 enemy air targets... Two people were injured. There is minor damage to civilian infrastructure.”
In the Kherson region, Russian forces attacked a civilian vehicle in Bilozerka around 7:00 am, by dropping an explosive device from a drone.
Former Polish Ambassador on Zelensky’s Letter to Putin
A 49-year-old local resident sustained blast and shrapnel injuries to his face, torso, arms, and thigh. He was hospitalized and is receiving medical care.
In the Sumy region, a Russian strike caused damage to homes and initiated a large fire. The State Emergency Service reported partial destruction of non-residential buildings and blast damage to homes. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) reported 163 combat clashes across the front in the past 24 hours.
“The enemy became most active in the Pokrovsk direction – 54 combat clashes took place over the past 24 hours,” their statement said.
As Kyiv Post reported on Tuesday, the Kremlin ignored the ceasefire proposal and instead launched 166 attacks along the front line.
The heaviest fighting also occurred near Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces repelled 60 assaults. Another 44 attacks took place in the Lyman and Novopavlivka directions.
A Kyiv Post correspondent reporting early on Tuesday from an undeclared location near Pokrovsk confirmed that there was no ceasefire in sight.
As Western leaders wait for a breakthrough, Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to respond to calls for a ceasefire, saying only that he intends to hold “direct talks” with Kyiv in Istanbul on May 15.
In a late-night address delivered in Moscow just after midnight on Sunday, Putin repeated the claim that Russia has always been open to a ceasefire – but again stopped short of addressing the latest Western proposal directly.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed on Tuesday that he is ready to meet Putin in person for negotiations in Turkey, but emphasized that Moscow has yet to officially respond to the offer.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin once again declined to say who – if anyone – it would send to the talks in Istanbul.
Zelensky told Libération that he is prepared to sit down with Putin to find a way to end the war, but only if the meeting brings results:
“We must understand the goal of my meeting with Putin. He and I cannot agree on everything right now – that’s impossible… But we must somehow find a format to end the war.”
He added that the meeting must lead to tangible progress, not just a symbolic handshake:
“If I meet him, we must come away with a political victory: a ceasefire, an all-for-all prisoner exchange, or something along those lines.”
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
