KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces shot down 13 drones on Wednesday, officials said, in Russia’s first major drone attack on the capital in weeks, and the United States is considering sending its advanced Patriot air defense system to help Ukraine.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions rocked the central Shevchenkivskyi district and that two administrative buildings were damaged. An air raid warning was lifted three hours after it began.
Serhii Popko, head of Kiev’s military administration, said 13 drones were destroyed.
In one district of Kiev, residents said they heard the sound of an Iranian Shahed drone – known as “mopeds” by Ukrainians because of the loud hum of its engines – followed by a powerful explosion in a building close to their homes.
“I was in the kitchen – I heard everything – I heard the buzz and ran to the bathroom,” said Yana, 39, who was getting ready for work.
Some of the windows of nearby residential buildings were broken. Pieces of the roof were scattered in the snow along with bricks and other debris. Shocked residents, bundled against the cold, surveyed the damage.
They said no one appeared to have been hurt.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what it calls a “special military operation” to “denazify” its neighbor, has unleashed missile strikes on energy infrastructure since October.
Ukraine’s grid operator said power facilities had not suffered any damage in Wednesday’s attack.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said the strike was deliberately timed when it was dark to make it more difficult to shoot down the drones.
“The air defenses worked well,” he said. “Thirteen (drones) were shot down.”
“Well done, I’m proud,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a brief video message, praising the air defense systems he said appeared to have shot down all the drones.
Ukraine has already received air defense systems from the West, including from the United States. The Patriot is considered one of the most advanced.
US officials told Reuters an announcement about the decision to supply the system could come as early as Thursday. Patriot is often in short supply, with allies around the world vying for it.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that US Patriot missile defense systems would be a legitimate target for Russian attacks against Ukraine if the United States authorized their delivery to support Kiev.
Source: CNN Brasil
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