Russia pounds Ukraine in new air attack, killing 9, including children

KYIV, July 30 (Reuters): Russia pounded Ukraine with dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones in overnight attacks on Thursday that killed nine people, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said delays in supplies of air defence missiles from allies were costing lives.

Russia launched more than 70 missiles and about 280 drones, Zelenskiy said in a statement. The capital Kyiv and the western region of Lviv on Ukraine's border with Poland were the main focus of the attack, the Ukrainian air force said.

Poland, a European Union and NATO member, scrambled fighter jets to secure its airspace and Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a Russian cruise missile appeared to have left a large crater and debris in a field in eastern Poland.

"Protecting against the Russian missile threat is the most important task for preserving the lives of our people," Zelenskiy said, posting pictures of destroyed houses, fires and rescuers clearing through rubble.

"Our allies know how they can help. Untimely assistance and delays in the supply of anti-ballistic missiles result in the kind of destruction and casualties we are witnessing today."

Only the "extraordinary expertise" of Ukrainian air defence units had prevented more deaths, Zelenskiy said.

Russia's defence ministry said its forces had struck what it called military facilities across Ukraine, from Kyiv to Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk, as well as three cargo ships.

PATRIOT AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM IN SHORT SUPPLY

Ukraine's air forces said air defence units shot down 55 missiles and 265 drones but stopped only one of nine ballistic missiles. Eleven missiles and 17 drones hit targets at 20 locations.

The US-made Patriot air defence system is the only weapon in Ukraine's arsenal capable of downing Russia's ballistic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound. Patriots are in chronically short supply globally.

A day of mourning was announced for Friday in a village in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where six people, including three children, were killed by a missile, regional officials said. Zelenskiy said that five children were missing at the house, which was almost completely eradicated by the force of the blast.