Kyiv was subjected to the “most massive” drone attack since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began 15 months ago, a five-hour bombardment as the ancient city prepared to celebrate the anniversary of its founding.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said preliminary information indicated Kyiv’s air defenses shot down more than 40 drones. Debris from hit drone fell onto a gas station in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, killing one person and injuring at least one, he said. Debris from another drone fell onto a seven-story building in the district, partly destroying one of its sides and causing a fire, Klitschko said.
Kyiv Day marks the anniversary of Kyiv’s official founding. The day is usually celebrated with live concerts, street fairs, exhibitions and fireworks. Scaled-back festivities were planned for this year, the city’s 1,541st anniversary.
The assault was part of a wide-ranging bombardment that saw more than a dozen other drones shot down across the country. In the northeastern Kharkiv province, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said a 61-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man were killed in two separate shelling attacks.
“The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians,” Ukraine’s chief presidential aide, Andriy Yermak, said on Twitter. “The invaders will definitely be held responsible. They will be defeated, and Ukraine will prevail.”
Developments:
∙Local officials in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region said air defense systems destroyed several drones as they approached the Ilsky oil refinery. And in Russia’s southern Belgorod region, two teenagers were wounded in an attack from Ukrainian forces, local officials said.
∙The death toll from Friday’s missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to four when three people listed as missing were confirmed dead. The attack, which injured more than 30 people, struck a building containing psychology and veterinary clinics.
West decision to send F-16s to Ukraine ‘an unacceptable escalation’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed plans by Western countries to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, one week after President Joe Biden approved plans to train Ukrainian pilots on the planes.
“Certainly, this is an unacceptable escalation. I hope there are sensible people in the West who understand that,” Lavrov said in an interview on Russian TV. “It’s playing with fire.”
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said last week he’s never seen “more motivated individuals” than the Ukrainian pilots and that they could learn to fly the planes in a in a few months. But he said it will take at least several months to transfer the jets to Ukraine, and he tried to tamp down expectations.
“It will give Ukrainians an increment of capabilities that they don’t have right now. But it’s not going to be a dramatic game-changer, as far as I’m concerned, for their total military capabilities.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
