1 killed in ‘most massive’ Russian drone attack on Kyiv

At least one person was killed Saturday night in the “most massive” Russian drone attack on Kyiv since the start of the war as the city prepared to celebrate its founding.

Serhii Popko, a senior Kyiv military official, said Russia launched Iranian-made Shahed drones in the “most massive attack” on the city, which lasted more than five hours, The Associated Press reported.  A 41-year-old man was killed and a 35-year-old woman was hospitalized after debris fell on a nonresidential building and sparked a fire, the AP noted.

The news service also reported that Ukraine’s Air Force said that a record-breaking number of Shahed drones were launched across the country. The nation’s air force also noted that 52 out of the 54 drones launched were shot down by air defense systems.

Ukrainian air defenses have been bolstered by Western-supplied systems, including U.S.-made Patriot defense systems. Ukraine used the Patriot systems for the first time earlier this month to intercept a Russian ballistic missile.

Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said a 61-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man were also killed in the northeastern Kharkiv province in two separate shelling attacks on Saturday, the AP added. The AP also reported that Ukrainian officials said that the timing of the attacks, which came hours before the founding of the city is celebrated on Kyiv Day on Sunday, was not coincidental.

“Today, the enemy decided to ‘congratulate’ the people of Kyiv on Kyiv Day with the help of their deadly UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles),” Popko also wrote on Telegram.

“The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians,” Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s chief presidential aide, said on Telegram.