Russia launched a rare daylight attack on Kyiv on Monday using drones that appeared upgraded, Ukrainian officials said, with multiple explosions ripping through the city and drone debris crashing onto the capital’s main square.
Ukrainian air defence units downed 194 out of 211 Russian drones, the air force said, adding that the morning attack was unusual in its timing and involved different types of drones targeting the central Kyiv region.
Drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital usually happen at night since drones are less easily detected in the dark.
“Around 30 drones of various types were targeting the Kyiv region,” Yuri Ihnat, air force spokesperson, told Ukrainian TV.
“The not-so-good news is that these drones have communication channels – mesh networks and other channels – which the enemy can use to control them. The better news is that almost all of them were shot down.”
Russia has in the past often used pre-programmed drones that cannot be piloted once in flight for long-range attacks.
Experts were working at the sites to identify types of drones used, Ihnat said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that drone debris fell in the busy Shevchenkivskyi district in the centre and two other districts in the west of the capital. Explosions ripped through the city as residents rushed to the shelters, Reporters witnesses said.
Reporters television footage showed police officers inspecting what appeared to be drone debris next to the Independence Monument on Kyiv’s main square. No casualties were reported in Kyiv, officials said.
Russia’s capital, Moscow, was also targeted by Ukrainian drones in recent days.
Over the weekend, Russia shot down 250 Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow, in what officials said was the biggest attempted attack on the Russian capital in at least a year.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 caused the bloodiest war in Europe since World War Two, killing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides.
In a separate Russian attack on Monday on Ukraine’s eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, two civilians were killed and seven others were wounded, the regional governor said.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka )
