Zelenskyy seeks Europe missile shield as Russia warns harsher response

Paris,UPDATED: Jul 13, 2026 20:36 IST

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Paris on Monday to seek support from European leaders for new measures against Russia's ballistic missiles, as Moscow kept up its hard line on the war and warned of stronger retaliation for recent Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine's immediate focus was to strengthen anti-ballistic defence before winter, when Russia usually steps up attacks that can cut off electricity, heat and water. At the same time, Russia said it had intercepted hundreds of Ukrainian drones aimed at Moscow and claimed it had foiled what it described as a major Ukrainian drone operation targeting military air bases.

"Our top priority is anti-ballistic defense," Zelenskyy said on social media after reaching Paris. He said Ukrainian officials would present a proposed Anti-Ballistic Program and meet government leaders, national security advisers and defence companies that could take part in it. Zelenskyy is pushing to speed up joint work with European countries on anti-ballistic air defences, as Russia's ballistic missiles are harder for Ukraine to stop than drones or cruise missiles.

He said he would also meet French President Emmanuel Macron, while the Ukrainian military would take part in the Bastille Day parade in Paris. The Paris meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, which includes more than 30 countries backing Ukraine, was expected to bring together about 25 heads of state and government. European foreign ministers were also meeting separately in Brussels to discuss Ukraine's needs and what they see as Russia's threats to the continent.

Zelenskyy and Ukraine's European backers want to build on what they describe as Ukraine's recent gains and push Russian President Vladimir Putin towards negotiations, though Moscow has shown no willingness to compromise despite peace efforts by the Trump administration. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the meeting, saying, "This is a coalition of warmongers. They are driven by the profound delusion that it's possible to inflict a strategic defeat on our country, so this is a coalition of the deluded, a coalition of those who incite the war."

Putin, meanwhile, said Russia would answer recent Ukrainian long-range attacks on refineries, tankers and terminals. "Wherever they attempt to strike Russian territory, we will respond in kind, but our strikes will be several times more powerful," he told a meeting with pro-Kremlin activists. He also again acknowledged fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian attacks on oil facilities, but said, "I believe the situation will gradually improve."

Ukraine's recent advances in drone technology have given it an edge in recent months, according to analysts and Western officials cited in the report, with strikes on supply routes behind the front slowing and raising the cost of Russian battlefield progress. Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, said Ukrainian forces struck 105 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov near Crimea between July 6 and 13. He said the vessels included tankers, dry cargo ships, a ferry and tugboats. The campaign is part of a wider Ukrainian effort to isolate Crimea and disrupt Russian logistics. The peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, is facing what the report described as its worst fuel crisis since then. The claims could not be independently verified, and Russian officials did not immediately comment.

Zelenskyy's visit came after US President Donald Trump last week pledged to give Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot air defence systems to counter ballistic missiles, a step that could be a major breakthrough for Kyiv. But experts and Ukrainian officials have warned that turning that into reality would likely take years, and it was not clear how quickly a new European system could be built.

The trip also followed the death of US Senator Lindsey Graham, a strong supporter of Kyiv in Washington. Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko called Graham "the closest link between Ukraine, our president and Trump". It also came amid a major reshuffle in Zelenskyy's government that saw Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko step down on Sunday.

France also signalled a tougher line against Moscow. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said he would summon the Russian ambassador to France and impose sanctions against Russian hackers. He told BFMTV-RMC that the issue concerned "a vast cyber campaign aimed at sabotage and espionage, carried out by Russia in about 10 European countries." Ukraine's neighbours have also felt the impact of the war. Moldova's foreign ministry said a drone launched during Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine's Odesa region crashed and exploded on Moldovan territory, calling the incident "serious and unacceptable."

Russia said its air defences had shot down 350 Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow since late Sunday, including 50 near the capital, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said 81 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight and that three people were killed and three injured in the Pionersky settlement in the western part of the region. Ukraine's air force, meanwhile, said Russia fired 134 long-range strike drones and three guided aviation missiles at Ukraine. In Odesa region, a strike on port infrastructure set fire to a docked merchant vessel carrying fertiliser under the flag of Togo, killing five crew members and injuring 10, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said.

Russia's Federal Security Service said it had thwarted a Ukrainian plan to attack the Ukrainka air base in the Amur region in the far east and the Shagol air base in the Chelyabinsk region in the southern Urals. It said small drones were smuggled into Bryansk region using air balloons and larger transport drones, and were then taken by car near the air bases by Ukrainian agents, who were arrested. The security service said the alleged plot was part of planned drone strikes on military infrastructure that were "unprecedented in its scale and the level of threat." It also referred to a Ukrainian covert operation a year ago, dubbed Operation Spiderweb, which Ukrainian officials said destroyed or damaged nearly a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet using drones secretly brought into Russia.

The developments underlined the twin tracks of the war on Monday: Ukraine's effort to secure stronger protection against Russian ballistic missile attacks and increase pressure on Moscow, and Russia's insistence that it will retaliate more forcefully while rejecting attempts by Kyiv and its backers to push it towards a settlement.

With PTI Inputs

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