Zelensky warns of possible major Russian strike overnight

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Wednesday that Russia would likely carry out another massive attack overnight, in a message posted on social media. "The Russians prepared a massive attack several days ago, and there is a high probability that the strike will be carried out tonight," he said in a post on X. He urged people in all regions of Ukraine to pay attention to air raid alerts and stay safe.

Zelensky also repeated his request to Ukraine's allies to supply Kyiv with the missiles its air defense system lacks. On Tuesday, he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House and discussed the possibility of Ukraine producing Patriot interceptors. In early July, Trump had expressed his intention to allow Ukraine to manufacture these surface-to-air missiles, amid an escalation of Russian ballistic missile strikes.

Only American Patriot systems are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, but Ukraine is desperately short of PAC-3 interceptor missiles. This shortage has worsened since the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in February.