Ukraine downs attack drone swarm over Kyiv
KYIV—Ukraine said Wednesday it had shot down more than a dozen Iranian-made drones in Moscow’s latest assault on Kyiv.
The attack came as the Kremlin promised no let-up to fighting over Christmas and as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged European leaders to assist in setting up a court to try RusSsiatnalneaddearsrodver the war.
“The terrorists started this morning with 13 Shaheds,” Zelensky said, referring to the Iran-made weapons.
“All 13 were shot down,” he added, urging residents to heed air raid sirens.
The national energy provider Ukrenergo said no electricity facilities had been damaged in the attack, crediting Ukrainian air defences for their “brilliant” work.
Such defense forces appeared set for a boost with ally Washington preparing to send a batch of Patriot missile defense batteries to Kyiv.
Ukraine has been subjected to frequent and deadly aerial attacks in the 10 months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and tried to capture the capital.
But since a series of key battlefield setbacks this summer and autumn, Russia began systematically targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine.
With temperatures dropping, the missile and drone attacks have disrupted electricity, water and heat to millions of Ukrainians.
- ‘Nearly 7 million children’ at risk The strikes targeting energy infrastructure have piled pressure on Ukraine’s power grid, whose operators have for weeks been forced to implement rolling blackouts.
That left “nearly seven million children without sustained access to electricity, heating and water, putting them at increased risk”, UNICEF, the UN children’s agency said Wednesday.
Explosions rang out over central Kyiv and AFP journalists later saw law enforcement and emergency service workers inspecting metal fragments at a snow-covered impact site.
City officials said debris from the downed drones had damaged residential homes and a local administrative building.
No one was reported injured or killed, but residents cleaning up broken window glass and assessing damage vented their frustration at the Russian barrages.