Russia Fired 2,000 Drones and 19 Missiles This Week, Zelensky Says

Russian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on September 20 that Russian forces launched over 2,000 drones and 19 missiles at Ukraine during the previous week. The majority of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were turbojet-powered variants, which travel at higher speeds and pose greater challenges for ground-based air defenses.

Zelensky's Facebook post highlighted that Russian strikes systematically targeted civilian and critical infrastructure in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy regions. Residential buildings were among the structures hit in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, while aerial bombardments also affected Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy.

The Ukrainian leader emphasized that Ukraine is actively seeking ways to defend itself against these strikes and retaliate against the aggressor. He urged partners, including the United States, Europe, and the G7 nations, to intensify sanctions against Russia and push for peace through strength. Zelensky provided an example of a targeted drone strike on a monastery in the Chervonyi Mayak village of the Kherson region on Saturday, September 19.

The Russian drone killed a 71-year-old priest and injured four other clergymen. In Vinnytsia, Russian attack drones struck a railway infrastructure facility on Sunday, September 20, but firefighting teams managed to extinguish the blaze without any casualties. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 138 UAVs overnight from four launch vectors, deploying Shahed-type loitering munitions, Gerbera drones, and Parodiya decoys.

Air defense units intercepted or electronically suppressed 101 drones across Ukraine, with impacts recorded at 17 locations and five sites experiencing falling debris.