Russia unleashes ‘massive’ air raids on Ukraine’s Kyiv
Kyiv’s air defenses downed 40 Russian drones, with falling debris killing a 41-year-old man, officials say.
Russia has unleashed two waves of airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, which officials say have left at least one person dead and another injured.
Kyiv’s air defense systems shot down at least 40 drones heading toward the city in the early hours of Sunday, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, with falling debris killing a 41-year-old man and injuring a 35-year-old woman.
“Stay in shelters. The attack is huge!” said the mayor on Telegram.
The pre-dawn attacks took place on the last Sunday in May, when the capital celebrates Kiev Day, the anniversary of its official founding 1,541 years ago.
The day is typically marked by street fairs, live concerts and special museum exhibitions – plans that have also been made for this year, but on a smaller scale.
“Ukraine’s history has been a long-standing annoyance to insecure Russians,” Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, told his Telegram channel.
Several districts of Kiev, the largest Ukrainian city of nearly three million people, suffered overnight attacks, officials said, including the historic Pecherskyi district.
When the air raids began shortly after midnight, many people stood on their balconies, the Reuters news agency reported, with some screaming offensives against Russian President Vladimir Putin and “Glory to the air defense” slogans.
With a Ukrainian counter-offensive looming 15 months into the war, Moscow this month intensified its missile and drone strikes after a nearly two-month lull targeting military facilities and supplies.
Waves of attacks are now coming several times a week.
In the leafy neighborhood of Holosiivskyi in the southwestern part of Kiev, falling debris set fire to a three-story warehouse on Sunday, destroying about 1,000 square meters (10,800 square feet) of buildings, according to the mayor.
A fire broke out after falling drone debris hit a seven-story non-residential building in the Solomyanskyi district west of the city. The district is a busy rail and air transport hub.
In the Pecherskyi district, a fire broke out on the roof of a nine-story building due to falling drone debris, officials of the Kiev military administration said on Telegram.
In recent weeks, there have also been increasing reports of drone attacks in Russia, especially in regions bordering Ukraine.
Two people were killed in shelling in those areas on Saturday, regional authorities said.
Moscow has blamed Kiev – and its Western supporters – for the escalating number of attacks and sabotage operations, including on the Kremlin, but Ukraine denies involvement.