Ukrainian authorities said they have thwarted a Russian attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region as their air defence system intercepted and destroyed 13 explosive-laden drones – although wreckage from some of them damaged five buildings.
Ukrainian authorities said they have thwarted a Russian attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region as their air defence system intercepted and destroyed 13 explosive-laden drones – although wreckage from some of them damaged five buildings.
No casualties have been reported.
Wednesday’s attempted strikes underline how vulnerable Ukraine’s capital remains to the regular Russian attacks that have devastated infrastructure and population centres in recent weeks, mostly in the country’s east and south.
But they also highlighted Ukraine’s claims of increasing efficiency in intercepting weapons — something Patriot missiles from the US may soon help boost.
In a brief video statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the “terrorists” fired 13 Iranian-made drones and all were intercepted.
Such drones have been part of the firepower, along with rockets, missiles, shelling mortars and artillery, as Russia targets power stations, water facilities and other public utility sites.
The snow-covered capital remained largely calm after the attack, which occurred at around dawn. As the working day began, authorities sounded the all-clear.
The head of the Kyiv city administration, Serhii Popko, wrote on Telegram that the attempted strikes came in two waves. Wreckage from the intercepted drones damaged an administrative building and four residential buildings, he said.
A blast left the three-storey tax office building in the central Shevchenkyvskyi district with a gaping hole in the roof and blew out windows in parked cars and in a neighbouring building.
