Ukraine: Russian strikes thwarted, wreckage hits buildings

KYIV, Ukraine (AP):

Ukrainian authorities said they thwarted a Russian attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region today as their air defence system intercepted and destroyed 13 explosive-laden drones. No casualties were reported.

The attempted strikes underlined how vulnerable Ukraine’s capital remains to the regular Russian attacks that have devastated infrastructure and population centres in recent weeks, mostly in the country’s east and south. Still, they also highlighted Ukraine’s claims of increasing efficiency in intercepting weapons — something that Patriot missiles from the United States of America (USA) may soon help boost.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a brief video statement, said the “terrorists” fired 13 Iranian-made drones, and all were intercepted. Such drones have been part of the firepower, along with rockets, missiles, shelling mortars and artillery, as Russia targets power stations, water facilities and other public utility sites.

The snow-covered capital remained largely calm after the attack, which occurred around daybreak. As the working day began, authorities sounded the all-clear.

The head of the Kyiv city administration, Serhii Popko, wrote on Telegram that the attempted strikes came in two waves. Wreckage from the intercepted drones damaged an administrative building and four residential buildings, he said.

A blast left the three-story tax office building in the central Shevchenkyvskyi district with a gaping hole in the roof and blew out windows in parked cars and a neighbouring building.

Clean-up crews were on site quickly to shovel away the rubble and roll out plastic sheeting to cover the blown-out windows in freezing temperatures. One man, unfazed, pushed his son on a swing set on a nearby playground as the crews did their work.

Anton Rudikov’s family was sleeping when they heard the sounds of an explosion nearby and smashing windows. “The children were frightened; the windows flew out,” said Rudikov, who has daughters ages 13 and 18. “What else can I say?

Residents told Associated Press reporters they saw fragments from a drone, which contained the words “For Ryazan.” The Kremlin claims Ukraine was responsible for an attack last week on a military base in the Ryazan region of western Russia.

Ukrainian authorities have trumpeted their ability to down Russian weapons, but strikes in some areas continue to cause deaths and havoc, particularly in areas close to the front lines in the east and south.

In the southern city of Odesa, drone strikes temporarily shut off the power last week. Kyiv has suffered comparatively little damage.

During a previous round of Russian volleys on December 5, more than 60 of 70 strikes were intercepted by air defence systems, including nine out of 10 targeting the capital and the surrounding region, Ukrainian officials have said.

USA officials said yesterday the United States was poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles.

Zelenskyy pressed Western leaders as recently as Monday to provide more advanced weapons to help his country in its war with Russia. The Patriot would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has offered to Ukraine to help repel Russian aerial attacks since Russia invaded on February 24.

USA officials also said last week that Moscow has looked to Iran to resupply the Russian military with drones and surface-to-surface missiles.

The damage caused by Russian strikes has interrupted electricity, heating and water supplies to many Ukrainians as winter sets in.

The United Nations migration agency said that more than five million people who were displaced within or outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion started have returned home.

The International Organisation for Migration said a November 25-Dec. 5 phone survey of 2,002 respondents in Ukraine also found that only seven per cent were considering leaving their current locations.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.