New Delhi: Kyiv experienced a barrage of air strikes throughout the night, marking what officials described as the largest drone attack the city has witnessed. However, despite the harrowing situation, on Sunday, large gatherings thronged the streets to celebrate the anniversary of the Ukrainian capital's founding, reported news agency Reuters.
At least one person was killed and several others were injured in the attack.
According to the Ukrainian military, it had downed 58 of the 59 launched drones, described by the air force as a record assault with the Iranian-made "kamikaze" drones. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said all 36 drones targeting Kyiv had been destroyed.
Reuters reported that the attack appears to be the first deadly attack on Kyiv in May and the 14th assault this month, falling debris killed a 41-year-old man, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, while several other people were injured.
"This is how Russia celebrates the day of our ancient Kyiv," Zelenskiy said in his nightly address.
Notably, the pre-dawn attacks came on the last Sunday of May when the capital celebrates Kyiv Day, the anniversary of its official founding 1,541 years ago.
"Strength is in people, it is in cities, it is in life, and when life, people, and the most important cities for culture are despised, Russia will only face defeat," Zelenskiy said.
Several districts of Kyiv, by far the largest Ukrainian city with a population of around 3 million, suffered in the overnight attacks, officials said, including the historical Pecherskyi neighbourhood.
“The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians,” Ukraine’s chief presidential aide, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram, reported Associated Press.
“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 messaging app, according to AP.
France condemned the attack "in the strongest terms", adding that it had claimed the lives of at least two people and left several injured, in what it called a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, Reuters reported.
"These unacceptable acts constitute war crimes and cannot go unpunished," the French foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.