New Delhi: Moscow on Saturday launched its most intense drone attack on Kyiv since the beginning of Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Ukrainian military said, reported news agency AP. Russia launched 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones and 74 of them have been destroyed, Ukrainian Air Force said.
“The attack was the most massive air attack by drones on Kyiv,” AP quoted Serhii Popko, head of Kyiv city administration, as saying.
According to the report, at least five civilians, including an 11-year-old child, were injured in Kyiv. In southern Kherson, one person was killed and three others were injured in the drone attack, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
“Our soldiers shot down most of the drones. Unfortunately, not all. But we continue to work to strengthen our air defence and shoot down more,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
In Kyiv’s Solomiansky district, several buildings were damaged, the falling debris left a crater in the courtyard of a building, glasses shattered and windows were blown out, as the residents took shelter in a nearby subway station, AP reported.
The drone attack began on Saturday morning. It led to power outages in 77 residential buildings and 120 commercial institutions, Popko said.
According to Ukraine’s Energy Ministry, as many as 17,000 residents were left without electricity as four power lines were damaged in the airstrikes.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said that the air defences shot down at least 66 drones over the capital and surrounding region throughout the morning, according to the news agency.
“Kyiv was the main target,” Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram.
It is to be noted that the massive drone attack was carried out on Holodomor Memorial Day which marks the man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine which killed millions of Ukrainians from 1932 to 1933. It is observed on the fourth Saturday in November.