Russia launched a huge drone attack at Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, before dawn on Saturday, sending wave after wave of crewless aircraft packed with explosives toward a city that is home to around three million people.
The Ukrainian air force said the attack had featured “a record number” of one-way attack drones, an estimated 75 in total, most of them directed at Kyiv. Its air defence teams managed to shoot down nearly all of them, preventing mass casualties, officials said.
Still, at least five people were injured in Saturday’s attack, including an 11-year-old child, city officials said, and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed by falling debris.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine called the bombardment “deliberate terror”.
“The Russian leadership is proud of its ability to kill,” he said, noting that the attack had coincided with a day on which Ukrainians pay tribute to the millions killed in the Holodomor, a famine orchestrated by Josef Stalin.
Early Saturday, searchlights swept the predawn skies over Kyiv as air defence teams hunted for drones approaching the city from all directions. The first alarms sounded shortly after 2:30 a.m., and the rattle of anti-aircraft guns and powerful explosions echoed for hours, the noisiest night that Kyiv has endured in months. The distant glow of fires was visible from the city centre.
At 7:15am, the Ukrainian air force warned that another wave of drones was approaching. With the sun up, they could be seen flying through the sky and exploding in bursts of orange. An “all clear” signal was issued shortly before 9am, more than six hours after the first alarm sounded.
Although it has been months since the capital was targeted with such ferocity, memories of attacks from last winter remain vivid.
Emergency workers arrived quickly at the site and set up a tent with tea and coffee. Other volunteers handed out plastic to cover empty window frames, providing some immediate protection against the biting cold.
The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down or disabled 74 of an estimated 75 drones, most of which targeted Kyiv. The war’s previously largest drone assault directed at the capital, in May, involved about half as many drones.
Russia has been increasing the number of drone strikes across Ukraine in recent weeks as it probes Ukrainian air defense systems, and Ukrainian officials have warned that Moscow is testing a variety of new methods to evade detection. A single missile was also shot down over the Dnipro region Saturday, the air force said.
“The enemy uses electronic warfare, jammers, to mislead air defense and make us respond to targets that do not actually exist,” Yuri Ihnat, an air force spokesperson, said this month.
Russia is also using methods such as unarmed drones that do not pose a serious threat but still require Ukrainian attention.
The most commonly used drones in long-range attacks on targets across Ukraine are Iranian-made Shaheds, which are designed to dive into their targets and detonate on contact. They can travel more than 600 miles and carry payloads of 80 to 120 pounds, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Russia has been working to modify and upgrade the Iranian-made drones, according to Western and Ukrainian officials. It is also increasing domestic production of drones based on the Iranian design, aiming to produce 6,000 by summer 2025, according to Western officials.
Saturday was a solemn day of remembrance for Ukraine as people across the country and around the world honoured the millions who died in the Holodomor, which means “death by hunger” in Ukrainian.
For many in Ukraine, Russia’s war carries echoes of the policies of Soviet leaders a century ago, when Stalin orchestrated a famine intended to bend Ukraine to his will.
“They tried to exterminate us, to subjugate us, to torture us,” Zelenskiy said at a ceremony Saturday morning. “They failed.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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