KYIV — Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, came under renewed Russian attacks on Monday after facing heavy rocket and drone attacks over the weekend.
Monday morning’s attacks mark the first daytime assault on the capital in months. Russia has fired up to 40 cruise missiles on Ukraine from strategic bombers stationed in the Caspian Sea, according to the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces.
The nation’s air defense forces reported cutting down most of the Russian weapons, including 37 missiles and 30 drones in five hours.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said some 40 enemy targets were shot down overnight in Kyiv alone. Monday morning’s attacks occurred at a time when the streets of Kiev were filled with people on their way to work and school. The debris hit busy streets in the capital’s center and residential neighborhoods, Klitschko said in a Telegram statement. The attacks came a day after another major Russian bombing just as Kiev celebrated the anniversary of its official founding 1,541 years ago.
“Another difficult night for the Capital. But, thanks to the professionalism of our defenders, as a result of the barbarian airstrike on Kiev, there was no damage or destruction of infrastructure and other structures, apartment buildings. There are no victims or dead,” Klitschko She said.
Local authorities in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskiy region said the Russians successfully struck a military facility there.
“At the moment, work is underway on the location of fires in fuel and lubricant warehouses and the storage of combat material assets. Five aircraft were damaged, as well as an airstrip », Khmelnytska Regional Military Administration reported.
Russia has launched 16 airstrikes on Kiev this month, but the latest assault signals a change in tactics.
“This was already the 16th attack on the capital since the beginning of the month. In this way the enemy changed tactics: after long attacks exclusively at night, they struck a peaceful city during the day, when most of the residents were at work and on the streets. The Russians clearly demonstrate that they aim at the destruction of the civilian population,” the military administration of the Kiev region said in a statement.
