Russia bombed Ukraine on Saturday with its largest drone strike of its kind since the start of the war, with kyiv bearing the brunt of the attack.
Ukrainian officials said the capital was the main target of the Russian attack, which began at 4 a.m. local time and continued in waves for six hours.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down or disabled 74 of 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones sent by Russia.
Saturday’s attack was “the most massive drone airstrike in kyiv,” said Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s military administration. Air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat shared that 66 of the drones had been shot down over kyiv and the surrounding region by air defenses.
Five people in kyiv were injured during the Russian attack that lasted several hours, including an 11-year-old girl, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
Buildings in city districts were also damaged by the attacks, and a kindergarten caught fire due to debris that fell from a downed drone, Klitschko said.
Buildings were damaged around the city, including a kindergarten that caught fire due to the debris of a drowned person.REUTERS
Nearly 200 buildings and 170,000 people in kyiv were left without power as a result of Saturday’s attack, according to officials, who reported damage to four power lines. Power was restored in the early afternoon.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has warned that Russia will launch an air campaign to destroy the country’s energy system, as it did last winter. Last week, a drone attack damaged power grids in the Odessa and Zaporizhzhia regions, causing power outages in more than 416 cities and towns.
“It seems that tonight we heard the overture. The prelude to the winter season,” said Serhiy Fursa, a Ukrainian economist.
Ukraine’s air force said 74 of the 75 drones sent by Russia in Saturday’s attack were shot down. AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky noted that the drone attacks occurred on Holodomor Memorial Day, which commemorates the Russian-created famine that killed millions of Ukrainians between 1932 and 1933.
“Deliberate terror,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “Russian leaders are proud of being able to kill.”
In addition to kyiv, in north-central Ukraine, the northeastern region of Sumy and the southern regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad were targeted by the drone attack.
Five people were injured in Saturday’s drone attack in Kiev.AFP via Getty Images
Russia’s massive drone strike came amid a temporary reduction in Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet’s ability to fire cruise missiles due to “logistical problems” at its Novorossiysk base, Ukraine’s military said earlier. of this month.
As Ukraine uses long-range strikes against the Russian base in Sevastopol, in Crimea, where it normally reloads its fleet’s cruise missiles, Novorossiysk has emerged as the best alternative site for Moscow. reported the British Ministry of Defense.
British military officials said relocating and reloading the missiles will require new delivery, storage, handling and loading processes.
Ukraine has warned that Russia will use an air campaign to destroy its electrical infrastructure as it did last year. AFP via Getty Images
General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, who commands Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine, wrote on Telegram that Russia had reduced its total number of airstrikes, conducting only four on the southeastern front line in the last day, but that the ground war has continued on the last day. eastern and southern regions.
Tarnavskyi claimed on Saturday that Russian forces lost 502 soldiers in the last 24 hours, while 24 pieces of military equipment were destroyed, including one tank and four armored vehicles.
With mail cables.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn