Ukraine claimed on Monday that Russia had attacked Kyiv with a swarm of “kamikaze drones,” calling the attack a desperate move nearly eight months into Russia’s invasion. One of the building impacts, according to Kyiv’s mayor, killed one person and injured three others.
An AFP journalist in Kyiv saw drones flying low over the capital’s central sector as police officers fired automatic weapons at them and smoke billowed from explosions all across the city.
The attack comes exactly one week after Russia launched a massive two-day missile blitz over Ukrainian cities, damaging power and water supply throughout the country. Air raid sirens were sounded in Kyiv just before the initial explosion at 6:35 a.m. (0335 GMT), and sirens could be heard across the country.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, stated that a residential building in the capital’s central Shevchenkivsky neighborhood had been damaged. He claimed that while 18 people had been recovered, two people were still buried beneath the rubble.
The head of the national railways, Alexander Kamyshin, admitted previous attacks “near” the capital’s key rail hub. “More air defense systems are urgently needed. To defend the skies and fight the adversary, more weapons are required “The announcement was published on social media by Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.
“The Russians feel it would help them, but it shows their desperation,” he continued. Russian drones and missiles, according to the Ukrainian military, are striking towns and cities across the country. Russian forces were estimated to have launched two missiles, 26 air strikes, and more than 80 rocket attacks.
“In the previous 13 hours, the Ukrainian military shot down 37 Iranian Shahed-136 drones and three cruise missiles launched by Russian terrorists,” the defense ministry said separately. Klitschko claimed in Kyiv that drone attacks in the Shevchenkivsky area caused a fire and the destruction of numerous structures. Residents were warned to seek refuge, according to him.
Klitschko also posted a photo of the burnt-out wreckage of one of the kamikaze drones, which are loitering weapons that can hover and wait for a target to hit.
Iran’s drones
Despite Tehran’s denial that it supplied Russia with armaments for the war, Zelensky said last week that Iranian drones were used in Russian attacks on energy facilities in numerous towns.
On October 10, Russia unleashed its most extensive missile campaign on Kyiv and other towns in months. At least 19 people were killed and 105 others were injured in the attacks, which sparked international anger. On October 11, Moscow conducted fresh strikes, albeit on a smaller scale, targeting electricity installations in western Ukraine, far from the front lines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the strikes were in retaliation for an explosion that destroyed a vital bridge linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow has annexed. Last week, Putin emphasized his joy, saying that no major strikes against Ukraine were required “for the time being.”
Despite a string of humiliating losses, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was “doing everything right” in its invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv’s army has moved closer to Kherson, the largest city in the same-named region immediately north of Crimea, in southern Ukraine.
Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, and it was the first major city to fall following the Kremlin’s February assault. Last Monday, the United States committed additional military aid to Kyiv “in the aftermath of Russia’s terrible missile strikes on civilians across Ukraine.”
The most recent $725 million package contained more ammunition for Ukraine’s Himars rocket guns, which have been used to devastate Russian targets. Since the Russian intervention began on February 24, the US has provided Ukraine with $17.6 billion in military aid.
Since February 2014, Russia and Ukraine have been at odds. Russia began hostilities soon after Ukraine’s Dignity Revolution, focusing on the political status of Crimea and the Donbas, both of which are still internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.
Incursions into Ukrainian territory culminated in Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which was quickly followed by the outbreak of the Donbas war between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian state forces; fighting in the first eight years of the conflict included naval incidents, cyber warfare, and heightened political tensions.
Because of Russia’s military buildup around Ukrainian territory, bilateral tensions rose throughout 2021, culminating in a massive escalation on February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine once more.
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