Kyiv. On Monday, Kyiv was once again rocked by a series of explosions following last week’s attacks by Russia on several cities in Ukraine. Drones laden with explosives were used for these blasts and in these attacks four people were killed and buildings were set on fire. The drones used by Russian forces in the attack appear to be Iran’s Shahed drones. Ukrainian soldiers tried to shoot down these drones by firing.
Officials said the attack sparked panic across the city with explosions echoing. The attacks targeted power installations and a drone struck a residential building, killing four people. Russia had so far been carrying out airstrikes with missiles on Ukraine, but today’s drone strikes created widespread fear in Kyiv and people were seen fleeing to safe havens.
Kyiv city mayor Vitaly Klichko said the capital’s central Shevchenko district was affected by the attack. He said several apartment blocks were damaged in the attack and a non-residential building caught fire. Clichco said 28 drones were used in these attacks. He said 18 people were rescued from the rubble of a building and rescue workers were trying to rescue two others trapped under it. An Associated Press (AP) photographer captured a picture of a drone in his camera. “All night and all morning, the enemy has terrorized the people of our country,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
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“Kamikaze drones and missiles are attacking all of Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “The enemy can attack our city, but cannot weaken us,” he wrote. Images and posts uploaded to social media clearly showed plumes of black smoke as drones flying in the air and fires engulfed the region of central Kyiv. The blasts occurred in the same central district where a week earlier a Russian missile had targeted a children’s playground and a square near the main buildings of the Kyiv National University.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrey Yermak, said in a post on the social media platform ‘Telegram’ that Russian forces attacked Kyiv with Iranian Shahed drones. In his address on Sunday night, Zelensky said heavy fighting was going on around the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk region. The Russian military said it used “long-range air and sea-based high-precision weapons” to target Ukraine’s military and energy installations. (agency)