Ukraine’s air force reported that at least 73 Russian attack drones breached its airspace between Saturday night and early Sunday, capping a week of historic battlefield developments involving advanced weaponry on both sides.

According to Ukraine’s military, 50 of the drones were shot down, while 19 were lost in flight. As of 7 a.m. local time, four drones were still active in Ukrainian airspace. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones during the same period.

Russia described its strikes as part of a broader campaign targeting “military airfields, production facilities, storage sites for drones, and concentrations of enemy manpower and military equipment.”

Drone warfare has been a hallmark of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with both sides ramping up the frequency and scale of UAV attacks. These drone assaults are often paired with missile barrages, heightening the intensity of the conflict.

“This week, the air alert sounded almost every day throughout Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram early Sunday. He added that over the past week, Russia deployed more than 800 guided aerial bombs, 460 attack drones, and over 20 missiles of various types against Ukrainian targets.

“Ukraine is not a weapons testing ground,” Zelenskyy emphasized, urging international partners to expedite support for advanced air defense systems. “It is very important to strengthen the protection of our sky.”

Tensions spiked last week after Ukraine deployed American-made ATACMS long-range missiles for the first time on Russian soil, targeting military sites in Bryansk. This development signals an escalation in the types of weaponry being used as the war continues to evolve.