Ukraine launches 800+ drones at Russia in one of its largest attacks

Ukraine attacking Russia. in one of Kyivs largest. aerial attacks of the war. Local authorities say at least six. people were killed in the attacks. Russia says it shot down more than 800. Ukrainian drones overnight. Nearly 200 of those Moscow region. Ukraine is increasingly firing at targets. deep within Russia, including warehouses. Kyiv claims are supplying. the Russian military. Russia firing back at Kyiv overnight. with a mix of drones and missiles. Ukraine's air. force says it did not shoot down.

any of the ballistic missiles, again. highlighting Ukraine's short. supply of missile interceptors. And we are joined now. by CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, what do you read into. Ukraine's strategy here. in launching these massive attacks? While their own defense is hampered. by this shortage of interceptors? Yeah. Brian, good to be with you. One of the things that is critical here. with the Ukrainian effort. is they're trying to saturate. the Russian air defense.

and missile defense systems. And so the sheer number of drones. that they're sending, those 800 that the Russians say. they intercepted. That, of course, is a percentage. of what was actually sent. And what that shows is that the Russians. Yes, they do have. some anti-drone capabilities. Absolutely. But there are drones. that are getting through and basically. what you're seeing here is. the Ukrainians are going. after a certain set of targets. that are designed to hamper. Russia's war effort. They know they can defeat Russia.

on the ground, but they can defeat Russia. or at least move it to a stalemate, in the air and in the drone war. And the drone war. has basically taken over. almost every aspect of this war, with the exception. of what's going on in the Eastern Front. The drone war. is really one of the. most important aspects. And what that shows. is that the Ukrainians. have at least been able. to not only take the war. to certain areas of Russia. They've also impacted the supply chain.

that the Russians. have for their war effort, and that has had some significant issues. Okay. So it sounds like what you're saying. is that Ukraine is is trying to make. Russia choose. defense over offense. to some extent in the air. Knowing Ukraine, however, has this shortage. of missile interceptors. How does that influence. Russia's strategy? So what Russia is going to do. is they're going to use. as many ballistic missiles. as they possibly can. They know that the Ukrainians. don't have the Patriots.

They don't have, other systems. that would potentially intercept, any ballistic missiles. that they are sending. The Russians have an advantage. in this, obviously. Plus, they're also targeting. civilian infrastructure. So they're doing things on. on several fronts. They want to overwhelm. the Ukrainian missile defenses, which, you know, they're obviously doing. a pretty good job of. They're also trying to prevent. in the West, the US included, from sending missiles. of the Patriot variety.

and of similar varieties, to Ukraine. And that, of course, makes a big difference as well. So what the Russians are trying to do. is overwhelm the Ukrainians and attack. civilian infrastructure. The Ukrainians are in a situation. where they have huge defenses, but they are also punching back. in a different area. And that is an effort. to throw the Russians off balance. and quickly, Colonel, on this point. How does these dynamics. that we're talking about here, impact. the front lines of the war.

with these attacks. deep into each other's territories? So the impact is not discernible. in a, you know, in. many areas on the frontline right now, because what you see on. the Eastern Front is basically states. In other words, the. the front line has been frozen. to a large extent. There is some movement. around Quincy Anthony, which is a town in the Donbas region. The Russians are trying to take that. But so far they have not succeeded. And that, of course, is important as well. So, in essence,

we have a stalemate on the ground. But the air war and the drone war. really is continuing at this point, which would mean that. this war would drag on further. if the front lines aren't moving. Is that correct? Yeah, to a large extent now. But of course, there's also. an economic aspect to this. And the Russians are impacted by, a lot of the sanctions. plus they also have limitations. when it comes to the number of troops. that they can send. They're getting more North Korean troops. in about 50,000, potentially.

That could be on the frontline there. And that, of course, does make for a, you know, for a potential difference there. But, they will. the Russians will probably fight. for as long as Putin wants them to fight. And that, of course, is going to be. the deciding factor at this point. Russia is currently assessing the damage. following one of Ukraine's. largest aerial attacks of the war so far. A mall in the Russian controlled. Donetsk region. suffered extensive damage, which authorities have blamed on Ukraine. It's reportedly the third Russian mall.

to be hit this week alone, and this video is showing. some smoke rising. from a burning medical supplies. warehouse near Moscow. In total, the Kremlin says that it shot down. more than 800 Ukrainian drones overnight. At least 187 of those were said. to have been intercepted. over the Moscow region. But Russia has also continued. firing on Ukraine. President. Zelensky says that Russia has launched. more than 1500 drones, 1500 guided bombs. and 62 missiles over the past week.

The Kremlin's latest attack on. Sunday hit a book market. in Kyiv, among other sights. For more on all of. this, I'm joined by CNN. Sebastian Tsoukalos, following the latest out of Berlin. Hey, Sebastian. Good morning. Paolo. What we're seeing as these trades. of airstrikes continue. almost unabated every night. Is that just this last night? Paolo, we've seen Moscow and Kyiv. trade attacks. Ukraine has attacked the Belgorod region.

It's a neighboring region of Ukraine. On the, on the Russian side of the border. And equally, Russia has attacked. Sumy, a borderland region. of Ukraine, too. And unfortunately, in both of those situations, there have been fatalities. as well as casualties. You alluded to that. enormous attack, the largest ever, according to Russia, that was launched by the Ukrainians, across Russia, but largely focused on Moscow. This is a phase of the war.

now that we have been in. for considerable weeks. If not months. And it shows no signs. of abating, because the way that. this war is now developed, it is now being fought. almost predominantly in the skies. The battlefields in eastern Ukraine. have ground pretty much to a halt, and both sides have identified. weaknesses in each other. That means the air attacks, like we've been seeing through ballistic. missile attacks, through drone attacks,

and through cruise missiles. Is that. these are the areas. where they think. they can inflict the most damage. The Ukrainians, who have developed enormously, their drone. capabilities, now have the opportunity. and chances to be able to hit Russia, where it really hurts. And we have seen the range of targets. that they've been hitting. They've hit oil refineries, they've hit supermarkets. They've even been hitting warehouses. of the Russian equivalent of Amazon, known as wild berries, because what the Ukrainians say.

is that that company is supplying weapons. or parts and components. for the Russian war machine. The converse side of that is. that Moscow has also identified. that Kiev. and Ukraine have weaknesses, and those weaknesses are largely centered. around Ukraine's. ballistic anti-ballistic. missile capabilities, namely. those Patriot missile interceptors. which are so depleted right now. in Ukrainian stockpiles. that they have to be sparing about where.

and when they use them. And the Ukrainian president. has been calling for weeks now. for an increase in those pack. to pack three. interceptor missiles. is what they're known, in the military jargon, that they desperately need. But they are in such finite supply. because they are only produced. in the United States. and obviously producing a missile. or an anti ballistic missile. like that. is not something. that you just roll out. in the space.

of a few hours or even a few days. And what the Ukrainian. president is calling for now. and I quote here, is that. for the European allies. and their Patriot missile systems. and missiles, not to sit idly in storage, these European allies. who are essentially now footing the bill. for Ukraine. when it is able to procure weapons, have to go through. a mechanism. that works with NATO called the. cold Pearl, which effectively. procures missiles from the US,

the European allies. They pay and then they transfer them. to Ukraine. The European allies. do have the systems as well, but obviously. they are slightly more reticent. to give over their stockpiles. for want of potentially. needing them themselves. At this simple biotic balance. that's going on here. Paolo. But what I think that we will not see, is a real change in this air war. If anything, we will likely to see it. We will have continued attacks,

and the number of casualties. and fatalities will continue to rise. because largely, there is no incentive here. for Vladimir Putin to end this war. Yet he shows no signs of doing so. And part of the way that the Europeans. want to try to force him. to the negotiating table, particularly as the white House. and the president Trump. does not seem to be making any headway. There is the introduction. of another sanctions package, which the allies really believe in.

The Europeans particularly firmly. believe will really start to clip. the coffers of the Kremlin to be able. to reduce their capabilities. to procure money, which is then goes into funneling to to. to buy. weapons, paying military contracts, etc., etc.. This sanctions. package is due to be presented. in the next few weeks, and hopefully then will be passed. at the next European Council. But even then, that does not mean, Paolo,

that we are going to immediately. see Vladimir Putin saying, okay, you've got me on. another sanctions package. I'm going to look to sue for peace. It shows at the meme. At the moment, it does not feel. that there is any reason, and there's certainly no sign of him. looking to sue for any sort of peace. Paolo. Now, it's been already over a month. since President Trump. surprised President Zelensky, telling him that he was willing. to offer those licenses. to the Ukrainians to manufacture here. They are still waiting. Sebastian Strickler,

thank you so much for. laying all that out.