Russian attack kills 10 after Zelensky hosts US firm making Patriot air defence systems

A Russian ⁠ballistic missile strike on Friday in Ukraine’s Kyiv region killed 10 people and injured almost 100 others at a site where a defence ‌industry event was being held, Ukrainian officials and industry representatives said. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who did not name the exact target, said that efforts to determine what happened were under way. “A rescue operation is currently under way in the Kyiv ⁠region following a Russian missile strike,” Zelensky said on Telegram. Acting ‌governor of Kyiv region Ruslan Oliynyk said that according to preliminary information, a ballistic missile ‌strike hit a private training ground where events were ⁠taking place. The ⁠Ukrainian Council of Defence Industry – which describes itself as the country’s largest association of private defence manufacturers – said that a missile strike hit a ‌site where representatives of Ukraine’s defence industry were present. It said it ‌was not ‌an organiser of the event. Information regarding the exact ‌whereabouts of the participants was not made public, it ⁠added. Valerii Borovyk, founder of Ukrainian drone company First Contact, told Ukrainian ⁠media that a missile struck a training ground where a defence industry exhibition was being held. The attack came a day after Zelensky met in Kyiv with senior representatives of Raytheon, the US company that makes the Patriot air defence systems Ukraine desperately needs to counter the devastating ballistic missiles Russia uses to advance its invasion. Zelensky has for years been pleading for more and quicker Patriot deliveries from Western partners. Ukraine has developed its own innovative air defences but large-scale production is vital. Ukraine’s ‌prosecutor general, Ruslan ‌Kravchenko, said that a criminal case had been opened on possible improper performance of official duties during the organisation and conduct of Friday’s defence event. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian attack on an oil facility in Russia has killed six people and wounded 26 others, the regional governor said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to portray Russia as negotiating from a position of strength in the war. But since it first attacked its neighbour in 2014, Russia has captured only around 20 per cent of the country. Now the Russian army’s advance is stalling due to Ukraine’s successful frontline and mid- and long-range attacks using cutting-edge drone technology it developed at home that is now coveted by other countries, Western officials and analysts say. Ukraine has expanded its campaign of disruption with bigger and increasingly frequent drone attacks inside Russia that are hitting high-profile targets, causing fuel shortages and piling pressure on Putin. Ukrainian forces again targeted the logistical hubs of Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer that is often compared to Amazon, the company’s founder said on Friday. The firm’s logistical facilities in St Petersburg, the adjacent Leningrad region and in Simferopol in illegally annexed Crimea came under attack, founder Tatyana Kim said. Photos and videos published by Russian media showed massive plumes of smoke over St Petersburg. Ukraine in recent days struck four other Wildberries warehouses across Russia, sparking massive fires. Kyiv officials want ordinary Russians to feel the consequences of the war and question whether Putin can keep them safe. The almost daily attacks have caused consternation in Moscow and elsewhere. The Russian Defence Ministry reported on Friday that its air defences shot down 571 Ukrainian drones overnight. Additional reporting by Associated Press