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Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, sirens wailed across the capital city Kyiv as people were urged to take shelter, on early Friday, a day after Moscow carried out the biggest aerial assault since the conflict first began in February, said a report by Reuters. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s army claims that it managed to destroy “all” Iranian-made kamikaze drones launched by Russia overnight.
The report also noted, shortly after 2:00 am (local time) air raid sirens were sounded across the Ukrainian capital and the city government issued an alert on its Telegram messaging app channel asking residents to seek shelter. The alert lasted for a little over two hours, reported AFP.
Additionally, Olekskiy Kuleba, governor of the Kyiv region also took to the messaging app to inform that an “attack by drones” was underway. While a Reuters witness claimed that they heard several explosions and the sound of anti-aircraft fire at least 20 km south of the Ukrainian capital.
“Night attack by martyr drones. Russia once again targeted our infrastructure facilities. Air defence forces repelled drones. Previously, there are no hits. Emergency services are working at the crash site,” said Kuleba.
Subsequently, the governor also said there were no casualties and the attack had targeted infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video address, late Thursday claimed that their air commands in central, southern, eastern and western Ukraine repelled 54 Russian missiles and 11 drones on Thursday, reported Reuters.
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko, also said that the capital was under attack by at least seven drones out of which two were shot down “on approach” and confirmed that there were no casualties. He added that falling debris had damaged windows in two buildings in the city’s southwestern neighbourhood, reported AFP.
According to Ukrainian officials, more than 120 missiles were fired during Thursday’s assault, during which more than 18 residential buildings and 10 critical infrastructure installations were destroyed. However, in a statement on Friday, Ukraine’s army said that they managed to repel an overnight drone attack by Russia.
Kyiv’s air force, in a statement, on social media said, “On the night of December 29-30, the enemy attacked Ukraine with Iranian-made kamikaze drones.” It added that a total of 16 drones were launched from the southeastern and northern directions out of which “all” were destroyed by the country’s air defence. The Ukrainian army also claimed Russia had launched 69 cruise missiles out of which 54 were shot down, on Thursday morning.
However, following this attack, Zelensky’s address also noted that most regions including the capital Kyiv, Odesa and Kherson were left without power and that the outages have been particularly difficult in these cities. “But this is nothing compared with what could have happened if it were not for our heroic anti-aircraft gunners and air defence,” Zelensky added.
This comes as Russia has reportedly been targeting Ukraine’s energy grid which has left millions without heat or power in the middle of winter.
(With inputs from agencies)
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