Russia launches massive drone attack on Kyiv as city prepares to celebrate its founding

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Russian forces pounded the Ukrainian capital Kiev overnight in what local officials have described as the biggest suicide drone attack since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the country 15 months ago.

Officials said Ukraine’s air defense systems shot down 52 of 54 incoming drones launched against Ukrainian targets in the early hours of Sunday, including 40 in Kiev alone. The attack came as the city prepared for the annual Kyiv Day celebrations held to mark its founding.

“This is the most massive drone attack on the capital since the start of the full-scale invasion,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a statement. “[It was] the 14th airstrike on the capital since early May,” he added.

Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, said in a statement: “A record number of enemy strike drones [unmanned aerial vehicles] were destroyed tonight. The vast majority – in the kyiv region.

He added: “Only fragments of the ‘gifts’ sent by the occupiers on Kyiv Day remain.”

Drone engines were audible after air raid sirens, followed by the sound of machine gun fire, surface-to-air defense systems and fighter jets seeking to intercept them.

Authorities reported damage across the city. One person died and two others were hospitalized after debris from a downed drone hit a seven-story non-residential building.

On the southern outskirts of downtown Kyiv’s Pechersky district, some of the debris fell on a five-storey residential building, destroying the roof and sending masonry crashing into the street below. No casualties were reported.

A family escaped injury when debris ripped through the roof of their bedroom. “We woke up and went to the hallway after the air raid sirens went off,” the mother said, standing next to her crying daughter and son-in-law.

Ukrainian officials said 12 regions of Ukraine had been hit by airstrikes and artillery in the past 24 hours, including frontline areas in the east and south as well as Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv.

Ukraine’s air defense capabilities have been significantly boosted by the supply of NATO-grade systems since late last year, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continued to plead for more. He praised the country’s air defense forces and rescue workers in a social media post on Sunday, saying, “You are our heroes.” “Every time you shoot down enemy drones and missiles, lives are saved.”

Late last year, Russia launched massive missile and drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing widespread blackouts throughout the fall and winter. After a lull in early spring, airstrikes have intensified again as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive in an attempt to regain territory in the east and south of the country.

Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, hinted on Saturday that the start of the counter-offensive was imminent, posting on social media that “the time has come to take back what is ours”.

The message included a video of soldiers training, pledging to “destroy” the enemy and calling on God to “bless our decisive attack”.