March 29 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said
on Saturday that Ukraine expected a strong response from Western
countries to the nearly daily Russian drone attacks on its
territory.
Within an hour of Zelenskiy’s comments, delivered in his nightly
video address, officials in Ukraine’s second-largest city,
Kharkiv, reported a mass Russian drone attack that killed one
person and injured up to 14.
Drones hit the southeastern city of Dnipro overnight,
killing four people, and the central city of Kryvyi Rih, where
nine others were injured.
“Our partners must understand that these Russian strikes
target not only our people, but also all international efforts,
diplomatic efforts aimed at ending this war,” Zelenskiy said in
his nightly video address.
He noted that 172 drones had been directed at Ukraine overnight
– the Ukrainian military said 94 of them had been downed.
“Russia is striking against everyone who seeks to end the
war. It is impossible to ignore hundreds of (Iranian-designed)
Shaheds every night.
“We expect a response, a serious response. We are working to
ensure there is a strong reaction, especially from America,
Europe and all those in the world who rely on diplomacy.”
The U.S. has brokered two ceasefires over the past week –
one designed to allow shipping through the Black Sea, the other
intended to stop attacks on energy targets.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of violating the
accord on energy sites.
In his remarks, Zelenskiy also said he spoke to Ukraine’s
top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, about the situation
along the 1,000-km (621-mile) front line in the war, which began
when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Also discussed, he
said, were areas “where our forces are operating inside Russian
territory.”
“We are maintaining active measures that prevent the
occupiers from advancing into (Ukraine’s) Sumy and Kharkiv
regions,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukrainian troops still maintain a presence in western
Russia’s Kursk region seven months after a cross-border
incursion, though Russian forces have recaptured territory.
And Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukrainian forces had
taken “certain steps” in Russia outside the Kursk region to ease
pressure on Ukrainian troops in the area.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by
Paul Simao)
