LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Russia is warning that it will continue mass strikes on Ukraine after weekend attacks hit every district of the Ukrainian capital.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The renewed Russian targeting of Kyiv is seen as a response to Ukrainian strikes. Ukraine has been striking deep into Russia. Recent attacks hit Russian military targets and also Russian oil facilities.
FADEL: Joining us now is NPR's Joanna Kakissis, who is in Kyiv. Hi, Joanna.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Hey, Leila.
FADEL: So the strikes this weekend targeted all over the capital, where you live. How bad is the damage?
KAKISSIS: Well, Leila, the strikes sounded really bad even while they were happening. We heard hours of very, very loud explosions like these.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)
KAKISSIS: And, you know, by dawn, the air smelled burned and fires were all over the city. Ukraine's emergency services said at least four people were killed and dozens wounded. One of Kyiv's oldest markets was incinerated, and a subway station where people actually seek shelter from these attacks was hit and damaged.
FADEL: And did Moscow use more weapons in these strikes?
KAKISSIS: Well, this was one of the biggest attacks of the war. Ukraine's military says Russia launched 600 drones and 90 missiles. Ukraine has developed weapons to shoot down drones, but ballistic missiles remain a challenge. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs air defense systems to target these missiles, like the U.S.-made Patriot, and this is now in short supply due to the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. Here's Zelenskyy.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: So he's saying Ukraine is looking for options, like accelerating the production of advanced air defense systems in Europe. Even so, this weekend, Russia launched a very powerful hypersonic missile called the Oreshnik.
FADEL: OK. So would a more advanced air defense system be able to shoot this missile down, the one you just mentioned?
KAKISSIS: Well, in 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Oreshnik can bypass any air defense and that the missile is, quote, as fast as "a meteorite." Russia has launched the Oreshnik three times at Ukraine. This weekend, it hit a city about 50 miles south of Kyiv. The missile has not caused the level of damage that many feared it would. However, the idea of the Oreshnik does scare Ukraine's Western partners because Putin says it can carry a nuclear warhead.
FADEL: Why, Joanna, is Russia escalating its attacks right now?
KAKISSIS: Well, Putin says Russia is retaliating for a drone strike the Russians say killed more than 20 people, many of them teenagers, at a college in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Ukraine denies targeting the school and says it hit a Russian elite drone unit nearby. But the Kremlin is also really agitated by Ukraine's use of long-range drones to target the lifeblood of the Russian economy, which is oil. Ukraine has struck Russian oil refineries and depots as well as ports.
FADEL: Are these long-range drone strikes turning things around for Ukraine?
KAKISSIS: Well, it certainly seems that way. Zelenskyy said that the strikes have reduced Russia's oil-refining capacity by 10%. And the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, D.C., says these strikes have slowed Russian battlefield gains to almost zero. We recently joined a Ukrainian military team as they launched these long-range drones.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRONE BUZZING)
KAKISSIS: And at the request of Ukraine's military, which cites security reasons, we are identifying soldiers using their military call signs. A soldier called Uki (ph) watched the drone fly into the night sky.
UKI: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: And he said, "these are Ukraine's versions of sanctions on Russia, our way of forcing the Kremlin into a peace that is fair to Ukraine."
FADEL: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis. Thank you, Joanna.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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