Russia launched several waves of air strikes in Kiev overnight on Sunday (28). According to officials, this appeared to be the biggest drone attack on the city since the beginning of the war, as the Ukrainian capital prepared to celebrate the anniversary of its founding.
In what also appeared to be the first deadly attack on Kiev in May and the 14th attack since the beginning of the month, authorities explained that air defense systems shot down at least 40 drones that were moving towards the city. The debris killed one person.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the victim was 41 years old. The military administration stated that at least two people were injured.
The pre-dawn attacks took place on the last Sunday in May, when the capital celebrates Kiev Day, the anniversary of its official founding 1,541 years ago. The day is normally marked by street fairs, live concerts and special museum exhibitions – plans for which were also made this year, but on a smaller scale.
“Ukraine’s history is a long-standing irritation for insecure Russians,” Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s cabinet, said on his Telegram channel.
“Preliminary information indicated that the airstrike was the biggest drone attack on Kiev since the start of the invasion of Russia in February 2022,” said Serhiy Popko, head of Kiev’s military administration. “Russia used Iranian-made Shahed drones in the attack,” he added.
Reuters was unable to independently verify this information.
“Today, the enemy decided to ‘congratulate’ the people of Kiev, on Kiev Day, with the help of their deadly UAVs [veículos aéreos não tripulados]”, quoted Popko in the messaging application Telegram.
“The attack was carried out in several waves and the air alert lasted for more than five hours,” he continued.
Several Kiev districts suffered from night-time attacks, officials said, including the historic Pecherskyi district.
Reuters witnesses explained that during the airstrike alerts that started just after midnight (local time), many people stood on their balconies, some shouting insults directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin and slogans of “Glory to air defense”.
With a Ukrainian counter-offensive looming 15 months into the war, Moscow has stepped up missile and drone strikes after a nearly two-month lull, targeting military installations and supplies. Waves of attacks now occur several times a week.
In the leafy Holosiivskyi district of southwest Kiev, debris ignited a three-story warehouse, destroying about 1,000 square meters (10,800 square feet) of building structures, Mayor Klitschko said.
A fire broke out after drone debris hit a seven-story non-residential building in the Solomyanskyi district west of the city. The site is a busy hub for rail and air transport.
In Pecherskyi district, a fire broke out on the roof of a nine-story building due to falling drone debris, and in Darnytskyi district a shop was damaged, Kiev military administration officials told Telegram.
Source: CNN Brasil
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