• Russia has yet to comment on claims
• Ukrainian President Zelenskyy calls for ‘biting’ sanctions against Russian oil, secondary measures against those who buy this oil
  
  ISTANBUL

Ukraine on Wednesday claimed that Russia launched a record 728 drones on the country in an overnight attack.

According to a statement from Ukraine’s Air Force, the country’s air defenses shot down 718 of the 728 drones, as well as seven of 13 missiles launched on the country.

“The main direction of the attack is Volyn, the city of Lutsk,” it added.

Russian authorities have not immediately commented on the attack.

Volyn Governor Ivan Rudnytskyi wrote on Telegram that about 50 drones and five missiles were detected over the northwestern region, bordering Belarus and Poland.

Rudnytskyi said that work to put out fires in warehouses belonging to an enterprise, as well as a garage cooperative, are currently underway.

“As of now, there are no reports of injuries or deaths,” Rudnytskyi went on to say.

"Firefighters extinguished the fire. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties,” Ukraine’s State Emergency Service later announced on Telegram.

Meanwhile, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces announced on X that Polish and allied aircraft were scrambled over its airspace amid the attack in neighboring Ukraine.

The aircraft were recalled "due to the reduced level of threat," it added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X following the attack that efforts to eliminate its consequences are ongoing, adding that damage was also reported in other regions of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv.

"This is a telling attack – and it comes precisely at a time when so many efforts have been made to achieve peace, to establish a ceasefire, and yet only Russia continues to rebuff them all.

"This is yet another proof of the need for sanctions – biting sanctions against oil, which has been fueling Moscow’s war machine with money for over three years of the war. Secondary sanctions on those who buy this oil and thereby sponsor killings," Zelenskyy added.

Previously, Kyiv claimed that Russia launched 539 drones on Ukraine last Friday.