KYIV: Ukraine said Wednesday it thwarted a Russian attack on Kyiv with its air defense system, shooting down 13 incoming explosive-laden drones, although wreckage from some of the aerial intercepts damaged five buildings.
The capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reported explosions in the central Shevchenkivskyi district in central Kyiv in the daybreak attack. There were no reported casualties.
“Another massive drone attack on Kyiv,” the Ukrainian defense ministry tweeted. “It is obvious that the Russian military feels confident only when attacking peaceful cities.”
Drones have been part of the firepower — along with rockets, missiles, mortars and artillery — that Russia has used since October to target power stations, water facilities and other public utility equipment, an effort to demoralize Ukrainians at the outset of winter.
In the latest attack, the head of the Kyiv city administration, Serhii Popko, wrote on Telegram that the wreckage from the intercepted drones damaged an administrative building and four residential buildings.
One blast left the three-story tax office building in the Shevchenkivskyi district with a gaping hole in its roof and blew out windows in parked cars and a nearby building.
Ukraine says it has been increasingly successful in shooting down Russian drones, intercepting more than 60 of 70 strikes in a barrage on December 5, but at the same time it has urgently sought more advanced air defense systems from its Western allies.
U.S. officials said Tuesday they were set to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to the Kyiv government during Russia’s 10-month war on Ukraine.
The European Union added sanctions against Iran this week for its role in developing and supplying drones that Russia is using in its war in Ukraine.
In another development Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said they have uncovered evidence that children were tortured in areas the Russian army formerly occupied.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights chief, said “torture chambers for children” accused of resisting Russian forces were found in recaptured areas of northeastern and southern Ukraine. “There are no limits to the cynicism of the Russian Federation,” he said.
(VOA)
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