At least one individual was killed in a new massive overnight drone attack by Russia on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, according to local officials.
According to Kyiv’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, a man was killed when drone debris crashed near a refueling station. A female was hurt.
Russian kamikaze drones hit 52 Ukrainian targets, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
Officials reported that more than 40 drones were shot down in Kyiv alone.
This information has not been verified independently.
Since February 2022, Russia has intensified its bombardment on Kyiv to break its defences.
Twelve regions of Ukraine, from Volyn in the northwest to Dnipropetrovsk in the southeast, were placed on air raid alert earlier on Sunday.
Mr. Klitschko urged Kyiv residents to “stay in shelters” on social media, warning of drone attacks and a “difficult” night.
He said that drone fragments ignited at least two high-rise structures in different capital districts.
In addition, Kyiv officials reported that warehouses in the Holosiyivsky district in the city’s south were smoldering.
As residents prepared to celebrate Kyiv Day – the anniversary of the city’s foundation 1500 years ago and a popular holiday before the conflict – some officials accused Russia of deliberately targeting Kyiv.
There were also reports of detonation in the western Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr.
Later, the air alert was withdrawn in the nation’s capital and throughout the country.
Russia has employed kamikaze drones and a variety of cruise and ballistic missiles in its recent attacks.
The assaults precede a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Saturday, one of the highest-ranking security officials in Ukraine told that the country was prepared to initiate such an operation.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the powerful National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, stated that an assault to retake territory from President Vladimir Putin’s occupying forces could commence “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or within a week”.
Ukraine has spent months preparing a counteroffensive. However, it desired as much time as possible to train soldiers and receive military supplies from its Western allies.
In the interim, Russian forces have prepared their defenses in the occupied regions of southeast Ukraine.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Andrei Kelin, told that his country possessed “enormous resources” but had yet to “act very seriously.”
Warnant that arms shipments to Ukraine could escalate the conflict to unprecedented levels, he added, “Sooner or later, this escalation may take on a new dimension that we do not need and do not want.”
