KIEV, UKRAINE (AP) December,19 – Several explosive drones attacked the Ukrainian capital before dawn as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to visit ally Belarus, locals say. Authorities reported. Ukrainian bot.
The drone strike comes three days after Ukrainian officials described it as one of Russia’s biggest attacks on Kyiv since the war began, with Moscow plaguing Ukraine from above in a widespread battlefield confrontation.
Russia launched 23 of her suicide drones while the city of Kyiv was asleep, but Ukrainian forces shot down 18 of them, Kyiv city officials told his Telegram. No major casualties were reported in the attack, but the Ukrainian president’s office said the war had killed at least three civilians and wounded 11 across the country between Sunday and Monday. .
The drone fire caused emergency power outages in 11 areas in central and eastern China, including the metropolitan area, authorities said. Monday is Saint Nicholas Day, the day the Christmas holidays begin in Ukraine, and children usually hide their first presents under their pillows.
Debris from a crashed drone damaged a street in the central Solomiansky district and smashed windows in a skyscraper in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky district, city officials said.
A drone hit the home of Olha, 84, and her 83-year-old, Ivan Kobzarenko, on the outskirts of the capital. Ivan injured his head.
Her garage was completely destroyed and her dog Marish was killed. Speaking in her bedroom, where broken glass and blood covered the floor, Olha said the blast blew the couple’s front door off.
A key infrastructure point was also hit, officials said, without elaborating.
The capital appeared to be the main target of recent Russian attacks, but other parts of the country were also hit, according to the military.
The Ukrainian military reports increasing success in shooting down incoming Russian missiles and explosive drones.
Moscow has targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including Kyiv, since October. This is part of a strategy to leave the country without heat and light during the frigid winter. It has continued these efforts despite Western sanctions and the supply of Western air defense systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The US has provided Ukraine with her HARM missiles, which are launched from fighter jets and designed to hit enemy radars.
About 14,000 people in Belgorod lost power on Monday as a result of Ukrainian military shelling, the region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov told his Telegram.
Putin said Monday that he would allow Russian forces to use Belarusian territory to invade Ukraine and for a meeting with authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who maintains close defence ties with Moscow. I was planning to visit Belarus on
The visit to Minsk was unusual for Putin, who usually receives Lukashenko at the Kremlin. Belarus is said to be stockpiling Soviet-era weapons, which would be useful to Moscow, and Lukashenko needs help with his country’s ailing economy.
Analysts say the Kremlin may again seek some form of Belarusian military support for its operations in Ukraine. But winter weather and Russia’s depleted resources mean an attack is unlikely to come soon, according to the War Research Institute, a Washington think tank.
It also concluded, “It is unlikely that Lukashenko will use the Belarusian army (which also needs to be re-equipped) to invade Ukraine.”
