Russia is raining hellfire on Ukraine
New attacks push its air defences to saturation point
A YEAR AGO, for 30 drones to hit Ukraine in a single night was considered exceptional. Now Russia is saturating Ukraine’s air defences with hundreds of them. On the night of May 25th the Kremlin pummelled the country with what Ukraine called a “massive strike” against Ukrainian cities, featuring 355 drones, a record. It is firing more missiles, too—at least nine that night. Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin “crazy”, but has still done nothing about it. So Ukraine is again stepping into the unknown. If the current ceasefire talks fail, which seems highly probable, air-defence units will need to start rationing their interceptors. More Russian missiles and drones will get through, to hit towns, cities and critical industry.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The war in the air”
From the May 31st 2025 edition
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