France has pledged to deliver new interceptor missiles to Ukraine as a surge in Russian strikes has pushed civilian deaths in the four-and-a-half-year war to their highest since the first months of Moscow's invasion. At least 13 people were killed in strikes overnight and through Saturday -- seven in Ukraine, four in Russia and two in Russia-annexed Crimea.
Escalation of Conflict
The latest deadly attacks come as rescuers in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig were sifting through the rubble of a part-destroyed shopping centre, where 16 were killed a day earlier in a Russian drone attack. This incident highlights the escalating nature of the conflict, with both sides targeting civilian infrastructure. The strikes mark the latest escalation in the four-and-a-half-year conflict.
International Response
Ukraine's allies in the Coalition of the Willing, an initiative led by France and Britain, will meet on Monday to look at how to ramp up pressure on Moscow to halt its invasion. Diplomacy has stalled with the United States, which had brokered several rounds of direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow, but which is now distracted by its war on Iran and frustrated the conflict has not been as easy to solve as President Donald Trump once touted.
French Support
Announcing the new missile interceptors, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: 'It is crucial to provide Ukraine with all the necessary means to defend its skies and thwart this aggression.' Russia has pounded Ukraine, especially the capital Kyiv, with ballistic missile attacks in recent months. The hard-to-intercept super-fast weapons reach their target within minutes, making it virtually impossible for locals in Kyiv to reach an underground shelter in time.
Impact on Civilians
Among the deadly attacks on Saturday was a Ukrainian drone strike on a house in southern Russia, killing two children and wounding their parents, the head of the Krasnodar region said. Governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in the Yeysk district came under a drone attack, resulting in the deaths of two children and injuries to two adults. In Kyiv, a ballistic missile strike during the day killed two and wounded several others in the Boryspil district.
Humanitarian Crisis
At least four were killed in a series of strikes on the frontline region of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine has faced a critical shortage of advanced missile interceptors, particularly US-made Patriots. Kyiv's own weapons are not able to shoot down the high-arching ballistic missiles that Russia has been firing in their dozens. In Kryvyi Rig, three people were still missing after Russian drones smashed into a busy shopping centre on Friday afternoon, with 16 confirmed killed and more than 100 wounded.
