Kyiv came under a “massive drone attack” on Sunday on the eve of the anniversary of the founding day of Ukraine’s capital.
The capital city’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko confirmed that a 41-year-old man died after debris from a seven-story non-residential building fell on him due to the drone attack, while a 35-year-old woman was hospitalised.
Apart from that, two high-rise buildings in different districts in the capital caught fire after being hit by falling drone fragments. Warehouses in the southern Holosiyivsky district were also set ablaze, Kyiv officials said.
Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that Russia launched a record 54 so-called kamikaze Iranian drones on Ukraine, of which 52 were shot down, adding that their response showcased Ukraine’s air defence capability.
“Russia launched the most massive attack on the city overnight Saturday with Iranian-made Shahed drones,” Serhii Popko, a senior Kyiv military official, told AP news agency.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky lauded the air defence, saying, “You look up to destroy enemy missiles, aircraft, helicopters, and drones. Every time you shoot down enemy drones and missiles, lives are saved… you are heroes!”
Ukrainian officials blamed Russia for deliberately targeting Kyiv as the residents were preparing for Kyiv Day — the anniversary of the city’s foundation more than 1,500 years ago.
“The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians,” Ukraine’s chief presidential aide, Andriy Yermak, said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Today, the enemy decided to ‘congratulate’ the people of Kyiv on Kyiv Day with the help of their deadly UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles),” Popko also wrote on the app.
Anticipating air attacks from Russia, Ukraine had on Sunday activated air raid alerts in 12 regions of Ukraine, from Volyn in the northwest to Dnipropetrovsk in the southeast.
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Russia has been prolifically using kamikaze drones and a range of cruise and ballistic missiles to target Ukraine.
The frequency of attacks has been increasing as Ukraine steps up its preparations for a counteroffensive.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s most senior security official told the BBC that the country was ready to launch attacks against Russia.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the powerful National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, said an assault to retake territory from President Vladimir Putin’s occupying forces could begin “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week”.
(With inputs from agencies)
