Russia unleashes massive drone attack on Kyiv

Russia unleashed waves of air strikes on Kyiv overnight in what officials said appeared to be the largest drone attack on the city since the start of the war, as the Ukrainian capital prepared to celebrate the anniversary of its founding yesterday.

Ukraine's Air Force said it downed 52 out of the 54 Russia-launched drones, calling it a record attack with the Iranian-made 'kamikaze' drones. At least two people were killed in the air strikes.

In what also appears to be the first deadly attack on Kyiv in May and the 14th assault this month, falling debris killed a 41-year-old man, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The pre-dawn attacks came on the last Sunday of May when the capital celebrates Kyiv Day, the anniversary of its official founding 1,541 years ago. The day is typically marked by street fairs, live concerts and special museum exhibitions - plans for which have been made this year too, but on a smaller scale.

"The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians," Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, said on his Telegram channel.

"Every time you shoot down enemy drones and missiles, lives are saved... you are heroes!" Zelensky told his air defence forces yesterday morning, also thanking rescuers.

Air Force said on Telegram that Russia had targeted military and critical infrastructure facilities in the central regions of Ukraine, and the Kyiv region in particular, reports Reuters.

With a Ukrainian counteroffensive looming 15 months into the war, Moscow has intensified air strikes after a lull of nearly two months, targeting chiefly military site and supplies. Waves of attacks now come several times a week.

The overnight attacks came after Kyiv said that combat clashes eased around the besieged city of Bakhmut in southeastern Ukraine, the site of the war's longest battle.

Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said the attack was carried out in several waves, and air alerts lasted more than five hours.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday said Western nations were "playing with fire" by agreeing to supply Ukraine with advanced US F-16 fighter jets, reports AFP.

It was "an unacceptable escalation" of the conflict, Lavrov said in an excerpt from a Russian TV interview posted on social media, denouncing an attempt to "weaken Russia" by "Washington, London and their satellites in the EU".

Several districts of Kyiv, by far the largest Ukrainian city with a population of around 3 million, suffered in the overnight attacks, officials said, including the historical Pecherskyi neighbourhood.