KYIV: Ukrainian defence forces said they shot down more than 20 drones during a fresh wave of Russian air attacks on Kyiv early on Tuesday (May 30) which killed at least one person and injured four others when their apartment building was hit and caught fire.
Kyiv’s military administration said the latest attack involved only Iranian-made Shahed drones, and no missiles as has been the case in most previous raids.
“A massive attack!” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app. “Do not leave shelters.”
One person died and four were injured when debris from a destroyed Russian projectile hit a high-rise apartment building sparking a fire, Ukrainian officials said.
Two upper floors of the building were destroyed and there could still be people under the rubble, Kyiv’s military administration officials said on the Telegram messaging app.
Photos from Kyiv officials and Reuters witnesses showed flames engulfing the top floors of the building and smoke rising from the roof.
“The attack was massive, came from different directions, in several waves,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram.
Debris hit several other districts of the capital including the historic Podil and Pecherskyi neighbourhoods. It was not immediately known how many drones Russia launched and there was no immediate comment from Moscow.
Russia has repeatedly attacked the Ukrainian capital in May using a combination of drones and missiles, mostly at night, in an apparent attempt to undermine Ukrainians’ will to fight after more than 15 months of war.
Tuesday’s strikes were Russia’s 17th air assault on the capital this month and came after the city was attacked twice on Monday, including an unusual daytime strike.
In a rare acknowledgement of damage to a military “target”, Ukraine said a runway was damaged and five aircraft were taken out of service on Monday in western Khmelnitskiy region.
Russian state-owned news agency RIA cited the defence ministry as saying more than one air base had been hit. There was no confirmation from Ukraine of damage to other air bases.
Ukrainian officials said most of the drones and missiles fired on Sunday and Monday had been shot down and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised US-supplied Patriot anti-missile defences.
“When Patriots in the hands of Ukrainians ensure a 100 per cent interception rate of any Russian missile, terror will be defeated,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Monday.
