Ukraine hits Russian airbase amid massive drone barrage from Moscow

Ukraine said it struck a Russian airbase on Saturday while Russia continued to pound Ukraine with hundreds of drones overnight as part of a steppedup bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the more than 3yearold warUkraines military General Staff said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had struck the Borisoglebsk airbase in Russias Voronezh region describing it as the home base of Russias Su34 Su35S and Su30SM fighter jetsWriting on Facebook the General Staff said it hit a depot containing glide bombs a training aircraft and possibly other aircraftRussian officials did not immediately comment on the attackSuch attacks on Russian airbases aim to dent Russias military capability and demonstrate Ukraines capability to hit highvalue targets in Russia Last month Ukraine said it destroyed more than 40 Russian planes stationed at several airfields deep in Russias territory in a surprise drone attackRussia fired 322 drones and decoys into Ukraine overnight into Saturday Ukraines air force said Of these 157 were shot down and 135 were lost likely having been electronically jammedAccording to the air force Ukraines western Khmelnytskyi region was the main target of the attack Regional Gov Serhii Tyurin said Saturday that no damage injuries or deaths had been reportedRussia has been stepping up its longrange attacks on Ukraine Waves of drones and missiles targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial assault since Russias invasion of Ukraine began killing one person and wounding at least 26 othersThe fresh wave of attacks came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he had a iquestvery important and productiveiquest phone call with US President Donald TrumpThe two leaders discussed how Ukrainian air defences might be strengthened possible joint weapons production between the US and Ukraine and broader USled efforts to end the war with Russia according to a statement by ZelenksyyAsked Friday night by reporters about the call Trump said We had a very good call I thinkWhen asked about finding a way to end the fighting Trump said I dont know I cant tell you whether or not thats going to happenThe US has paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine including crucial air defence missiles Ukraines main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack Zelenskyy says plans are afoot to build up Ukraines domestic arms industry but scaling up will take timeRussias Defence Ministry said it shot down 94 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday along with 12 further drones on Saturday morning No casualties were reportedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever