Russia launches ‘most massive’ drone attack on Ukraine since invasion began, says Kyiv military

Russia launched on Saturday morning its most intense drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in 2022, targeting the Ukrainian capital, military officials said.

“Kyiv was the main target,” wrote Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk, on his Telegram channel.

In total, Russia launched 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones against Ukraine, of which 74 were destroyed by air defence, Ukraine’s air force said.

The attack was “the most massive air attack by drones on Kyiv”, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration.

The attack was carried out on the morning of Holodomor Memorial Day which commemorates the man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine that killed millions of Ukrainians from 1932 to 1933, and is marked on the fourth Saturday in November.

Kyiv authorities said it was “symbolic” that the capital had been the subject of such a large-scale attack on Holodomor.

“More than 70 Shahed on the night of the Holomorph Remembrance Day … the Russian leadership is proud of the fact that it can kill,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

Ukraine says Holomorph – Ukrainian for “death by starvation” – was caused deliberately by the Soviet Union’s agricultural policies.

Moscow denies this, and says it was part of a wider famine that also affected Russian parts of the Soviet Union.

At least five civilians were wounded in Saturday’s hours-long drone assault on Kyiv, which saw several buildings damaged, including a kindergarten. The wounded included an 11-year-old child, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

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Ukraine says Russian strike killed over 50 in one of the deadliest attacks of the war

Ukraine says Russian strike killed over 50 in one of the deadliest attacks of the war

The assault on Kyiv began at 4am local time, continuing in waves for over six hours, and caused power outages in 77 residential buildings and 120 institutions, according to Popko.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said 17,000 people were without power in the Kyiv region as a result of the attack, noting that four power lines were damaged.

“Our soldiers shot down most of the drones. Unfortunately, not all,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “But we continue to work to strengthen our air defence and shoot down more,” he said.

In addition to Kyiv, the Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions were also targeted.

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Kyiv has warned of and prepared for a renewed Russian campaign targeting its energy grid as winter descends, fearing a repeat of events last year, when thousands were left without heat or light in freezing temperatures.

More than 21 months into Moscow’s offensive, fighting is most intense in the east of Ukraine and is now centred around the city of Avdiivka, which is nearly encircled by Russian forces.

Zelensky said Russia’s current attacks on Ukraine were possible because of what he called uncondemned crimes of the past.

“In the last century, famine came from Moscow. Now, we hear words of denial from there. And every one of these words of denial actually sounds like a confession,” Zelensky said.

Ukraine has urged the West for more weapons to counter the Russian invasion, concerned that global attention has shifted to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse