Ukraine reports ‘record’ number of drone attacks on the country since Russia’s invasion

KYIV – Russia unleashed the “most important” assault by drones on Kyiv overnight from Saturday to Sunday since the start of the invasion, but nearly all were destroyed, the military authorities said.

Forty of the 54 drones launched targeted the capital, killing two people and wounding three.

“In total a record number of explosive drones launched were counted: 54!” Ukraine’s air force said in a Telegram post on Sunday.

“It’s the most important drone attack against the capital since the start of the invasion” in February 2022, the regional military administration said on Telegram.

The attack “took place over several waves and the air raid alert lasted more than five hours”, it said.

“According to preliminary reports, more than 40 Russian drones were destroyed by air defence” systems over Kyiv, the administration added.

It said that with most of the drones downed, debris fell on a seven-storey building in the capital’s Golosiivskii district, killing one person and wounding another.

A fire broke out in a warehouse zone, sending flames shooting 1km into the sky and also injuring one person, the administration said.

“The emergency services are at all the sites,” the regional authorities said.

Near a petrol station in the Solomianskii area, a 41-year-old man died and a 35-year-old woman was wounded and hospitalised, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

‘Massive’ assault

It was the 14th drone attack on the Ukraine capital by Russia in May, the authorities said, noting an unprecedented number in a single month after Kyiv had been relatively spared at the start of the year.

The mayor described the assault as “massive”, with drones “arriving from several directions at once”.

Sunday was to be celebrated as the capital’s special day, prompting the authorities to make an ironic statement: “Today the enemy decided to ‘congratulate’ the population on Kyiv Day with the help of their killer drones.”