Russia launched drone attacks on Kiev and parts of eastern Ukraine, the latest in a string of strikes that has lasted several days over the New Year holiday.
Air raid sirens were heard late Sunday night in Kiev, as well as in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukrayinska Pravda.
According to the Kiev region’s Governor Oleksiy Kuleba, the attack began shortly before midnight and the Iranian-made Shahed drones were “targeting critical infrastructure facilities”.
The latest attacks were announced by Kiev’s military shortly after 1 a.m. on Monday, according to the BBC.
“Air attack on Kiev… Air alert is on in the capital,” it announced on the Telegram social media site.
Serhiy Popko, the city’s military administration chief, advised residents to seek refuge in shelters.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said an explosion had occurred in the city’s northeastern Desnyanskyi district and that emergency services were on the scene.
“An injured 19-year-old man was hospitalised in the Desnyanskyi district of the capital… The main thing now is to stay calm and stay in shelters until the alarm is off,” the BBC quoted the Mayor as saying.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation on Sunday that 45 “Shaheds” were killed on the first night of the year.
“Thank you to our Ground Forces’ air defense for another 12 downed Iranian drones,” he added.
The strikes on Sunday night follow a wave of attacks on New Year’s Eve that killed at least one person in Kiev.
For several months, Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, destroying power plants and plunging millions into darkness during the country’s bitter winter.
Source:OCN