Kyiv rallies on night of the killer drones
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his country’s air defences after Kyiv saw the largest drone attack since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
The overnight attack killed two people and wounded three others. The latest drone attack came as Russia has intensified aerial strikes on the capital this month, and warned the West against escalating the conflict after the US agreed to F-16 deliveries.
Ukraine said the latest attack in Kyiv was the largest of the invasion, with about 40 of the more than 50 drones deployed targeting the capital.
“Most of the destruction was averted, and most of the lives that could have been taken by these Shaheds (drones) were saved,” Mr Zelensky said on Sunday (local time) of the overnight attacks.
“I am grateful to each and every person who made it possible! ... Thank you warriors!” he said.
This was the 14th drone attack on the Ukrainian capital by Russia this month.
“People are in shock. There’s a lot of damage, the windows were broken, the roof was damaged,” said Sergei Movchan, a 50-year-old resident whose house was damaged by debris.
Kyiv had been relatively spared since the beginning of the year, but in May its residents have had to live with almost nightly air raid sirens and thundering explosions.
The air raid alert lasted more than five hours as the attack was carried out in several waves.
Authorities reported that two were killed and three others wounded as debris of the downed drones fell in several districts.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko described the assault as “massive”, with drones “arriving from several directions at once”.
The Kyiv military administration first said that “more than 40 Russian drones were destroyed by air defence” systems in the “most important drone attack against the capital since the start of the invasion” in February 2022.
Mr Zelensky later revised the number to 36 drones downed over the capital and its region.
“During this terrorist attack, the most powerful strike was directed against the Kyiv region,” Mr Zelensky said during his evening address. “This is how Russia celebrates the day of our ancient Kyiv.”
Sunday was to be celebrated as Kyiv’s city day, usually marked by street concerts and performances.
Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said “Kyiv, a city of free and brave people, has become a symbol of Ukraine’s unbreakable spirit and the Kremlin’s failed imperial ambitions.”
Russia used Shahed drones from Iran, Ukrainian officials said, and presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak vowed new sanctions against Iran.
“Tehran has become a key ally of Moscow in this war, deliberately supplying it with weapons for attacks on civilian cities,” Mr Podolyak said.
Mr Zelensky last week blasted Tehran’s “support for evil” and appealed to the Iranian people. Iran answered by saying Mr Zelensky’s accusation was an attempt to gain the West’s military and financial support.
After Kyiv had long asked for advanced warplanes, the US on Friday said it would allow Kyiv to acquire F-16 fighter jets, the most sophisticated material yet supplied by the West.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday said Western nations were “playing with fire” by agreeing to supply Ukraine with F-16s.
Mr Lavrov called the move “an unacceptable escalation” of the conflict, in a TV interview posted on social media.
The most powerful strike was against the Kyiv region
Volodymyr Zelensky Ukraine president