Dramatic photos have emerged showing Kyiv under fire in the biggest drone attack of the conflict so far, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said to expect another winter bombardment.
There was a total of nearly 75 drones which were launched from two directions which were the Primorsko-Akhtarsk and the Kursk regions in Russia, according to Ukraine’s Air Force in a Telegram post.
It was described as a ‘record number’ of drones. However, Ukraine claims to have intercepted around 71 of the drones in the attack.
At least five people were injured in the attack including an 11-year-old girl.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that apartment blocks and a nursery were hit.
An explosion of a drone is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike
There was a total of nearly 75 drones which were launched from two directions
Smoke rises following a drone strike. It was described as a ‘record number’ of drones by the Ukrainian Air Force
A damaged kindergarten following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv. It came as Russia launched its most intense drone strike on Ukraine since the beginning of the war
A man looks into a car heavily damaged by a drone remnants in Solomianskyi district on November 25, 2023
A building of a preschool in Solomianskyi district stands heavily damaged by a drone fragment
He said: ‘In the Solomyan district, a fire broke out in the premises of a kindergarten as a result of the fall of UAV debris.
‘There are also open fires in this area. Fire and rescue services are on site.’
Explosions were heard as aircraft intercepted, with buildings damaged by the Iranian-made kamikaze Shahed drones.
Photographs show searchlights scouring the night sky in looking for enemy aircraft, like scenes from the London Blitz in the Second World War.
Throughout the night, the Ukrainian Air Force reported sightings of Shahed drones in Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kyiv.
An inhabitant collects broken glass after the explosion of a downed Russian drone in a yard among residential buildings
Rescuers working to extinguish a fire at the site of a drone attack. Ukraine said it had downed most of the 75 Russian attack drones
A firefighter examines damage in an apartment building following the drone strike
Ukrainian police and military experts collect fragments of downed Russian drone around a crater in a yard around residential buildings
Paramedics give psychological aid to residents of a damaged apartment building
Around 71 of the 75 drones were intercepted by Ukrainian forces, it has been claimed
Ukrainian servicemen use a searchlight as they search for drones in the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike
The Air Force added: ‘Anti-aircraft missile troops, tactical aviation, mobile fire groups, and electronic warfare units were involved in repelling the air attack.’
Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said: ‘As a result of the shooting down of enemy drones in the Solomianskyi district, damage to windows in apartments was recorded.’
The attack came ahead of Ukraine’s annual memorial day for victims of the 1932 Holodomor famine.
A drone flies in the sky over Kyiv during the Russian drone strike
President Zelenskyy described the strikes as an act of ‘wilful terror’
A police officer inspects a compound of a kindergarten damaged during Russian drone strikes
Local residents walk in front of their apartment building damaged during Russian drone strikes
The attack came ahead of Ukraine’s annual memorial day for victims of the 1932 Holodomor famine
President Zelenskyy described the strikes as an act of ‘wilful terror’ and said more than 70 drones were involved in the attack, but most were shot down.
The president added: ‘The closer we are to winter, the more Russians will try to make the strikes more powerful.’
This marks the fourth drone attack on the capital this month.
The country’s Energy Ministry said the attack cut off power to an overhead line, leaving 77 residential buildings and 120 establishments without power in the city centre.
The attack bears similarities to attacks a year ago when Russia began targeting Ukraine’s energy, military and transport infrastructure six months after withdrawing troops from around the Ukrainian capital.
It left millions without energy and heating during the bitter winter.