Ukraine: Russia intensifying aerial drone marketing campaign

Waves of Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Sunday morning as assaults on infrastructure and power targets continued right into a second evening.

The head of Kyiv’s navy administration, General Serhiy Popko, wrote on Telegram on Sunday that town had been attacked “in waves from different directions.”

The Ukrainian air pressure reported that 15 out of 20 Iranian-produced Shahed “kamikaze” drones had been shot down over the Kyiv area, in addition to close to the cities of Poltava and Cherkasy to the south-east of the capital.

“No casualties or critical destruction were recorded,” in accordance with Popko.

Zelenskyy requires 100% air protection effectiveness

The assaults got here 24 hours after an analogous assault on Saturday morning, when Ukrainian air defenses shot down 29 out of 38 drones launched from Russian territory. All Kyiv-bound drones have been intercepted, however a profitable strike in Odesa wounded a civilian, whereas energy cuts have been reported in over 400 places.

Speaking in his every day deal with on Saturday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Ukraine was boosting its air defenses forward of an anticipated second winter of Russian air assaults.

“The closer we get to winter, the greater Russia’s efforts will be to step up its attacks,” he mentioned, calling on his forces to be “100 percent effective, despite all the difficulties, despite all the fatigue.”

Last winter, Russia fired a whole lot of rockets and drones at power and infrastructure targets throughout Ukraine, forcing the civilian inhabitants to endure chilly nights with out heating and electrical energy. The climate has remained unusually delicate in Ukraine to date this 12 months, however temperatures are beginning to drop.

Ukrainian drone shot down over Moscow

In response, Ukraine additionally started launching smaller-scale drone assaults on targets inside Russia in summer season, and did so once more on Sunday morning.

“An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using a drone against facilities of the Russian Federation was thwarted,” the Russian protection ministry mentioned in a press release, saying the drone in query “was destroyed by air defense equipment … over the territory of the Bogorodsky urban district in the Moscow area.”

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin later wrote on Telegram that the foiled assault “did not cause any damage or casualties” and that “emergency services were working on the site” the place “the debris” from the system had fallen.

mf/lo (Reuters, AFP, dpa)