Russia attacks Kyiv with drones

GBNEWS24DESK//

Ukrainian forces shot down 13 drones yesterday, officials said, as Russia launched its first major drone attack on the capital Kyiv in weeks and the United States considered sending its advanced Patriot air defence system to help Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions had rocked the city’s central Shevchenkivskyi district and that two administrative buildings had been damaged. An air raid alert was lifted three hours after it began.

In one Kyiv district, residents said they heard the sound of an Iranian Shahed drone – known as “mopeds” by Ukrainians because of the loud whirring of their engines – followed by a powerful explosion at a building next to their homes.

One attack appeared to have ripped through a chunk of the roof of a nearby walled-off brick building. It was unclear what the building was used for.

Some of the windows of nearby residential buildings had been smashed. Bits of the roof were strewn in the snow along with other debris. Shocked residents, wrapped up against the cold, inspected the damage.

They said no one appeared to have been hurt.

The white tail of a drone could be seen in the wreckage. It had M529 Geran-2 written on it and a handwritten message “For Ryazan!!!”, an apparent reference to what Moscow says was a Ukrainian attack on an airstrip deep inside Russia this month.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls a “special military operation” to “denazify” its neighbour, has unleashed barrages of missile attacks on energy infrastructure since October.

Ukraine’s grid operator said energy facilities had not sustained any damage in yesterday’s attack.

“Well done, I am proud,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a brief video message, praising the air defence systems.

Ukraine has already received air defence systems from the West, including from the United States. The Patriot is considered one of the most advanced.

US officials told Reuters an announcement on a decision on providing the system could come as soon as today. The Patriot is usually in short supply, with allies around the world vying for it.

The Kremlin yesterday said that US Patriot missile defence systems would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine if Washington authorised their delivery to Kyiv.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces morning report highlighted the importance of air defence systems.