Zelensky calls for European air defence system as Russia bombards city

Russian forces bombarded the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with rockets overnight, as President Volodymyr Zelensky urged European leaders to make the continent safe by building an ambitious air defence umbrella.

The attack wounded 20 people, including four children, officials said.

With the war grinding on since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour more than three and a half years ago, there has been no let-up in Russian strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine and its army’s push on the roughly 1,000-km (620-mile) front line.

A peace settlement appears to be no closer despite months of US-led peace efforts.

US President Donald Trump’s ultimatums and deadlines for Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage with proposals to stop the fighting have passed without obvious consequences.

Just over the past two weeks, Mr Zelensky said on Telegram, Russia has launched more than 3,500 drones, more than 2,500 powerful glide bombs and almost 200 missiles at targets inside Ukraine.

Russian glide bombs, usually dropped by jets at high altitude and far behind the front line, and drone swarms are a major challenge for Ukrainian defences. Glide bombs are not very accurate, but they leave big craters, and Ukraine has no effective countermeasure against them.

Russian drones also recently landed on Polish soil, prompting Nato to beef up the alliance’s European air defences as tensions with Moscow mounted.

“Now is the time to implement the joint protection of our European skies with a multilayered air defence system. All the technologies for this are available,” Mr Zelensky said on Telegram.

“We need investments and desire, we need strong actions and decisions from all our partners.”

Mr Trump, heading to the UK for a state visit, told reporters in Washington that “Zelensky is going to have to make a deal” to end the war, though he did not elaborate on what he meant.

The US president has blamed both sides for the fighting, though Ukraine is defending itself from invasion.

Mr Trump also repeated his insistence that Europe must stop buying oil from Russia. He said on Saturday he believes the war would end if all Nato countries stopped buying crude from Russia, and placed tariffs on China of 50% to 100% for its purchases of Russian petroleum.

In Zaporizhzhia, the Russian barrage struck more than 20 apartment buildings, starting fires, regional head Ivan Fedorov said on national television.

“We hadn’t yet recovered from enemy strikes on August 30. We are currently repairing those buildings, those windows, but now the enemy has added more work for our municipal workers,” Mr Fedorov said.

In response, Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones that have hit deep inside Russia, damaging installations vital for Russia’s war effort.

Recent strikes have included oil refineries, depots and terminals.

Russia remains the world’s second-largest oil exporter, but a seasonal rise in demand and sustained Ukrainian drone strikes have caused fuel shortages in recent weeks.

Ukraine’s General Staff said on Tuesday that the armed forces struck an oil refinery in the Saratov region of western Russia during the night.

Explosions and a fire were reported at the facility, the General Staff said on its Facebook page.