On Sunday, Russia instigated its most extensive drone assault on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, resulting in two fatalities and three injuries, coinciding with its founding anniversary commemoration.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported the interception and destruction of 52 of 54 Iranian-manufactured drones involved in the attack, although the number deployed over Kyiv remains uncertain.
Per officials, casualties and injuries occurred due to debris from downed drones impacting several districts.
The attacks, occurring just before dawn, coincided with Kyiv Day, a celebration marking the city’s founding 1,541 years ago. Despite the current climate, smaller-scale festivities were planned, including street fairs, live concerts, and special museum exhibitions.
Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office head, commented on his Telegram channel, “The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians.”
According to the Air Force’s Telegram post, Russia targeted critical military and infrastructure facilities in Ukraine’s central regions, particularly Kyiv.
However, Reuters could not independently corroborate this information.
Fifteen months into the war and with a Ukrainian counteroffensive impending, Russia has renewed intensive airstrikes after a nearly two-month hiatus, primarily aiming at military installations and supplies. Assault waves are now occurring multiple times per week.
The Sunday onslaught followed reports of reduced combat activity around the besieged Bakhmut in southeastern Ukraine, the location of the war’s most protracted conflict.
Kyiv’s military administration head, Serhiy Popko, noted that the attack was executed in several stages, with air raid alerts lasting over five hours.
“Today, the enemy decided to ‘congratulate’ the people of Kyiv on Kyiv Day with their deadly UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles),” Popko stated on Telegram.
Officials reported that the overnight attacks caused damage to several Kyiv districts, including the historic Pecherskyi neighborhood.
As air raid warnings began shortly after midnight, Reuters witnesses reported numerous people on their balconies, with some shouting insults directed at Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and pro-air defense chants.
In Kyiv’s southwestern Holosiivskyi district, drone debris ignited a three-story warehouse, destroying roughly 1,000 square meters of building structures, according to Mayor Klitschko.
Elsewhere, drone debris-induced fires affected a seven-story non-residential building in the Solomyanskyi district and a nine-story building in the Pecherskyi district, and damaged a shop in the Darnytskyi district, as informed by Kyiv’s military administration officials on Telegram.
