MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This weekend, the Ukrainian air force said Russian forces launched the largest air assault on Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Russia has been bombing Ukrainian cities more often over the last few months, and that battlefield remains a bloody war of attrition with no end in sight.
MARTIN: NPR's Ukraine correspondent, Joanna Kakissis, is on the line with us now from Kyiv to tell us more. Good morning, Joanna.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel
MARTIN: So tell us about this weekend's airstrikes. What happened?
KAKISSIS: Well, the Ukrainian air force told us this attack was the largest of the war because of the sheer number of weapons used. Russia fired more than 500 drones, missiles and guided air bombs at several Ukrainian cities and regions. About half were shot down. We in Kyiv were largely spared this time, but the capital has been repeatedly targeted, including earlier this month, when 28 people were killed.
MARTIN: And was anybody hurt this time?
KAKISSIS: Yes. At least six civilians died across the country, and at least a dozen were injured. Businesses, residential areas and utilities were damaged. The air force also lost an F-16 fighter jet and its pilot, 32-year-old Maksym Ustymenko, who shot down seven aerial targets before his plane went down.
MARTIN: Wow. So Russia is obviously escalating its attacks on Ukraine. How are Ukrainian cities protecting themselves?
KAKISSIS: So here in Kyiv, the military usually shoots down attack drones using anti-aircraft missiles. They also have these machine-gunners moving around on trucks. And in another city that's often hit the southern port of Odesa, the navy uses mobile air defense units on speedboats in the Black Sea. We rode with one of the speedboat units recently and spoke with the crew, including Pirat, or Pirate. We are using only his call sign at the request of the Ukrainian military, which cites security reasons. Pirate always carries a photo of his wife and baby son.
PIRAT: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: He's saying the crew celebrates whenever they shoot down a drone because it means that drone will not hit a neighborhood. And one drone hit very close to his own family's home recently. Now, I should add, Michel, that military experts say Russia is using these aerial assaults to deplete Ukraine's supply of air defense munitions.
MARTIN: You know, Joanna, Odesa and even Kyiv aren't that close to the front line. So how is Ukraine's attempt to defend its territory on the ground going?
KAKISSIS: Well, Michel, it's been very difficult for Ukraine's ground forces. The front line stretches hundreds of miles, and the Russians are making incremental gains pushing farther west into Ukraine. But I should say, at this rate, it would take Russia years to conquer Ukraine, and the war has also cost Russia. The U.K.'s defense ministry estimates that more than a million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded during the full-scale war.
MARTIN: So amid all this, Joanna, is there any hope for a ceasefire?
KAKISSIS: Well, not right now. Representatives from Ukraine and Russia have met in Istanbul and agreed to prisoner exchanges but no ceasefire. And in another sign that this war will not end anytime soon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just signed a decree withdrawing his country from the Ottawa Treaty, which bans the production and use of antipersonnel land mines. Now, he says land mines are instruments of defense against Russia, and some other countries bordering Russia have also said that they will withdraw from the treaty. Russia, by the way, has not signed this treaty and has used antipersonnel mines extensively.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Joanna, thank you.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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