Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Russia would likely carry out another massive attack on the country 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.
"Please, in all regions of Ukraine, pay attention to air raid alerts today and stay safe."
Ukrainian drones hit oil refineries and logistics facilities in the Russian cities of Perm, Ryazan and Taganrog, as well as the Crimean peninsula, on Wednesday, with the country's top online retailer Wildberries evacuating its Ryazan warehouse.
While Ukraine's air defences are running low on interceptors like Patriot missiles, leaving it more exposed to Russian strikes, its own deep-strike drone production has outpaced Russia's, enabling it to hit Russian oil refineries and infrastructure and cause fuel shortages across its 11 time zones.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Drone strikes have damaged at least seven Wildberries warehouses in the past few days, destroying around 10% of the company's storage capacity and inflicting losses on tens of thousands of small businesses that sell goods and services via the platform, according to the company and local authorities.
Local Russian officials confirmed the strikes.
A call for greater air defence
Zelenskyy also repeated his request to Ukraine's allies to supply Kyiv with the missiles its air defence system lacks.
Zelenskyy spoke on Wednesday with his US counterpart 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 make these surface-to-air missiles, at a time when Russia had stepped up its ballistic missile strikes.
Only the American Patriot systems are capable of shooting them down, 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.
— With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.
