Ukraine shoots down drones as Russia attacks Kyiv
KYIV (MNP) – Ukrainian forces shot down 13 drones on Wednesday, officials said, as Russia launched its first major drone attack on the capital Kyiv in weeks and the United States considered sending its advanced Patriot air defence system to help Ukraine.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions had rocked the city’s central Shevchenkivskyi district and that two administrative buildings had been damaged. An air raid alert was lifted three hours after it began.
In one Kyiv district, residents said they heard the sound of an Iranian Shahed drone – known as “mopeds” by Ukrainians because of the loud whirring of their engines – followed by a powerful explosion at a building next to their homes.
“I was already in the kitchen – I heard everything – I heard the buzzing ‘moped’ and I ran into the bathroom,” said Yana, 39, who had been getting ready for work.
“I want this all to be over… For (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, that bastard, to die. Those are the only emotions.”
One attack appeared to have ripped through a chunk of the roof of a nearby walled-off brick building. It was unclear what the building was used for.
Some of the windows of nearby residential buildings had been smashed. Bits of the roof were strewn in the snow along with other debris. Shocked residents, wrapped up against the cold, inspected the damage.
They said no one appeared to have been hurt.
The white tail of a drone could be seen in the wreckage. It had M529 Geran-2 written on it and a handwritten message “For Ryazan!!!”, an apparent reference to what Moscow says was a Ukrainian attack on an airstrip deep inside Russia this month.
