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image source, YASUYOSHI CHIBA
One of the kamikaze drones flies over the city of Kyiv
At least five explosions were heard in Kyiv after air-raid sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital.
Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said residential buildings in the central Shevchenkivskiy area were damaged.
Andriy Yermak, director of President Zelensky’s office, stated that the attacks were performed with kamikaze drones.
A week ago, the capital was the target of several Russian missiles during rush hour, as part of a nationwide escalation of attacks that left 19 dead.
Monday’s explosions occurred at around 07:00 local time, reported BBC correspondent Paul Adams, who is in the city.
“Kyiv reverberated with frantic shrapnel from anti-aircraft fire trying to shoot down the drones,” the correspondent described. “Video posted on social media appears to show one was intercepted.”
Two of the drones went down near the city center, with sirens and car alarms ringing in the area.
It is difficult to know who are the targets of the attacksPaul Adams says. The mayor says residential and non-residential buildings were hit, while railway officials say they have seen explosions near the capital’s main train station.
According to a Reuters reporter, one of the fragments recovered from one of the drones had the words “For Belgorod” written on it.
The Kremlin accused Ukraine of a missile attack on the city of Belgorod.
Two gunmen – who were volunteers in the Ukrainian army – killed 11 people at a Russian military training camp in Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.
image source, Telegram
Mayor Klitschko shared this photo of what he claimed were fragments of a kamikaze drone on the social network Telegram.
Recent attacks have been on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and the BBC correspondent says it would not be surprising if that were the case with today’s attacks.
In a statement via the Telegram social network, Klitschko said the attacks took place in the Shevchenkivskiy district, which was also the target of several attacks last week.
He added that rescuers were at the scene putting out a fire and recommended that residents stay in bomb shelters.
Despite the warnings, the streets are far from deserted, reports Paul Adams. Between the first and second wave of attacks, quite a few people were seen going about their daily routines.
For his part, Andriy Yermak described the kamikaze drone strikes as Russia’s “death rattles,” saying Ukraine needed more air defense systems “as soon as possible.”
Oksana Kovalenko, a local journalist, said that two suicide drones had hit critical infrastructure related to energy.
image source, YASUYOSHI CHIBA
A Ukrainian in Kyiv shoots at one of the drones.
what are drones kamikaze?
- Small aerial weapons, known as wandering munitions, that are destroyed once they hit the target
- Unlike other drones – which usually return to their base after launching a missile – kamikaze drones are disposable
- Its name derives from the Japanese pilots who voluntarily crashed their planes on suicide missions during World War II.
- President Zelensky had previously accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones – Iran denies supplying them, while Russia has not commented.
Russian President Vladimir Putin argued last week’s attacks were in retaliation for the explosion at a key bridge linking Russia to the occupied Crimean peninsula, for which he blamed Ukraine.
It was the first time during this war that the center of Kyiv was a direct target.
Earlier this week, Putin declared that there was no need to carry out more large-scale attacks against Ukraine.
He said that most of the designated targets had been hit, adding that his goal was not to destroy the country.
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