Kiev, Ukraine
CNN
—
It carried out its largest ever drone strike against Russia on Saturday of Ukraine According to the local authorities, it was the capital of Caivin from the beginning of its invasion.
“Almost 75 in total Shahed Drones Launched from both directions: Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Kursk region of Russia. The main target was the city of Kyiv,” Ukraine’s Air Force said in a Telegram post, describing the attack as a “record number” of drones.
It said air defenses intercepted 71 Iranian-made drones in six regions of Ukraine – but most of the drones were intercepted in the Kyiv region.
“Anti-aircraft missile troops, tactical aviation, mobile fire teams and electronic warfare units are involved in repelling the air attack,” the Air Force said. It added that a Kh-59 guided missile was also destroyed in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Mykhailo Shamanov, a spokesman for the Kyiv City Military Administration, described several waves of drones coming from different directions toward the capital.
A CNN producer in Kiev heard loud explosions and repeated bangs as the drones buzzed overhead. The city’s military administration warned residents to take cover: “A large number of enemy UAVs are entering Kiev from different directions! We ask you to remain in shelters until the alarm goes off!”
According to Shamanov, this is the fourth drone strike in Kiev this month.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said at least two people were injured in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi district.
The fire broke out in several places in the Solomianskyi district, including a residential building and other non-residential premises, Klitschko said.
He said that the second floor of a five-story residential building in Solomiansky district was damaged, and debris from downed drones fell on two residential buildings – one in Dnibrovsky district, the other in Holozivsky district.
In a separate statement, Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said a fire broke out in a kindergarten complex after a drone was shot down in Solomianskyi district.
The country’s energy ministry said this latest attack on Kyiv left 77 residential buildings and 120 businesses without power in the city center.
Ukrainian energy company DTEK announced on Saturday that it had restored power to all Kyiv residents.
Last winter, Russia launched a sustained campaign of missile and drone strikes to cripple Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine has become a regular target of attacks, with shock waves of explosions damaging infrastructure in the region, including its nuclear power plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said “powerful explosions” rocked the area near the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant last month, with shock waves breaking windows and temporarily cutting power to some off-site radiation monitoring stations. IAEA experts at the plant also said two drones were shot down near the site.
The IAEA said the incident “once again highlights the dangers to nuclear safety and security during an ongoing military conflict”.
Amid concerns about the nation’s energy this winter, DTEK has spent the past seven months restoring infrastructure, seeking to boost production and increase safety at its facilities.
“We recovered what was recoverable, bought back-up equipment and installed safeguards around the power plants,” said DTEK Chief Executive Maxim Tymchenko. told CNN earlier this month.
According to Vadim Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s security intelligence, attacks on the country Energy grid Russia will be hard to pull at this point.
Citizens are also preparing for the possibility of power cuts. A company that installs energy storage systems nationally has seen a significant rise in demand as people seek off-grid solutions, while businesses and institutions purchase generators and secondary batteries.
