Russia launches its ‘biggest drone attack’ on Ukraine’s capital, one dead

2023-05-28 09:08:02

The Ukrainian capital suffered the biggest drone attack since the start of the Russian war, local authorities said, as kyiv prepared to celebrate the anniversary of its founding on Sunday. At least one person died.

Russia launched its “most massive attack” overnight on Saturday with Iranian-made Shahed drones, said Serhii Popko, a senior military official in kyiv. The attack lasted more than five hours and anti-aircraft defenses shot down more than 40 drones, according to reports.

A 41-year-old man was killed and a 35-year-old woman was hospitalized following debris from the attack fell on a seven-story non-residential building and started a fire, the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said.

The Ukrainian air force said the record for Shahed drone strikes across the country had also been broken on Saturday night. Of the 54 drones launched, 52 were shot down by anti-aircraft defenses.

In the northeastern province of Kharkiv, a 61-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man were killed in two separate shell attacks, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

kyiv Day commemorates the anniversary of the official foundation of the city. It is usually celebrated with live concerts, street fairs, exhibitions and fireworks. More low-key celebrations for the city’s 1,541st anniversary had been scheduled this year.

Ukrainian authorities said the timing of the attack was probably not accidental.

“Ukrainian history has long been a nuisance to insecure Russians,” Ukraine’s top presidential adviser Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.

“Today the enemy decided to ‘congratulate’ the people of Kiev on kyiv Day with the help of their (unmanned aerial vehicles),” Popko said in the messaging app.

Local authorities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, for their part, said their anti-aircraft defenses had destroyed several drones heading for the Ilsky oil refinery.

Drone strikes once morest Russian border regions have been commonplace since the start of the invasion in February 2022, and have increased in the past month. Last month, a crude oil refinery in Krasnodar was attacked by drones on two consecutive days.

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