Russian troops stormed the Ukrainian capital Kiev overnight in what local officials said was the largest kamikaze drone strike since Moscow’s all-out invasion of the country 15 months ago.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 52 of 54 drones aimed at Ukrainian targets in the early hours of Sunday, 40 in Kiev alone, officials said. The attack comes as the city prepares for its annual Kiev Day celebrations to mark its founding.
“This is the largest drone attack on the capital since the start of the full-scale invasion,” Sergey Popko, head of Kiev’s military authorities, said in a statement. “(This is) the 14th airstrike on the capital since early May,” he added.
Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a statement: “A record number of enemy attack drones were destroyed tonight. The vast majority – in the Kiev region.”
“All that remains of the ‘gift’ from the occupiers on Kiev Day is fragments,” he added.
After the air raid sirens sounded, the sound of drone engines could be heard, followed by machine gun fire, ground-to-air defenses and fighter jets trying to intercept them.
Officials reported damage across the city. One person died and two others were hospitalized after debris from a downed drone hit a seven-story nonresidential building.
On the southern outskirts of Kiev’s central Pechersky district, some debris fell on a five-storey residential building, destroying the roof and sending the masonry structure crashing onto the street below. No casualties were reported.
A family escaped harm when debris rushed from their roof into their bedroom. “When the air raid sirens went off, we woke up and walked into the hallway,” said the mother, who was standing outside beside her crying daughter and son-in-law.
Ukrainian officials said 12 regions in Ukraine had come under airstrikes and shelling in the past 24 hours, including frontline areas in the east and south, as well as Zhitomyr, west of Kiev.
Since late last year, Ukraine’s air defenses have been significantly boosted by the supply of NATO-class systems, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to plead for more. On Sunday, he praised the country’s air defense and rescue workers on social media, saying: “You are our heroes.” “Every time you shoot down an enemy drone and missile, you save a life.”
Late last year, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing widespread blackouts throughout the fall and winter. After a lull in early spring, airstrikes have intensified again as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive to retake territory in the country’s east and south.
Valery Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, hinted on Saturday that a counteroffensive was imminent, saying in a social media post that “now is the time to take back what is ours”.
The post included a video of soldiers training, vowing to “destroy” the enemy and calling on God to “bless our decisive attack”.