The Kyiv City Military Administration posted information about the drone attack early on Friday morning, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Five kamikaze drones destroyed over Kyiv
Officials said on the Telegram social messaging app that five Iranian-made Shahed drones had entered Kyiv’s airspace and that all were destroyed by Ukrainian air defence, according to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.
However, barrage munitions from one of the unmanned aerial vehicles struck an administrative building in the Holosiiv district, partially destroying the building and damaging the windows of a nearby residential building, The Guardian reported on its website, quoting Kyiv officials.
Kyiv’s city government had issued an air raid alert on its Telegram messaging app channel shortly after 2 a.m., calling on residents to proceed to shelters, news outlets reported.
Olekskiy Kuleba, governor of the Kyiv region, said on Telegram that an “attack by drones” was under way.
A few hours later, the governor announced that the attack had targeted infrastructure and that there were no casualties, according to the Ukrainska Pravda website.
Kuleba wrote on Telegram, as quoted by The Guardian: “Night attack by martyr drones. Russia once again targeted our infrastructure facilities. Air defence forces repelled drones ... Emergency services are working at the crash site."
Later on Friday morning, Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had launched 16 kamikaze drones overnight, and that Ukrainian air defences destroyed all of them, the Reuters news agency reported.
The drones had been sent from the southeast and north, according to officials.
'Widespread disruptions to energy, heating, and water supplies': ISW
The overnight attacks came hours after Russia launched a wave of missile strikes against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure on Thursday, the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, noted.
The ISW wrote in its latest analysis of the war in Ukraine, published on Thursday night: “Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces launched 69 cruise missiles and 23 drones at Ukraine and that Ukrainian air defenses shot down 54 of the missiles and at least 11 of the drones.”
The Washington-based think tank cited Ukrainian sources as saying that “Russian forces struck targets, primarily infrastructure facilities, in Lviv, Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Donetsk oblasts causing widespread disruptions to energy, heating, and water supplies.”
Meanwhile, Russian sources claimed that Russian forces “also struck targets in Sumy, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhia oblasts,” according to the US experts.
Belarus claims it shot down Ukrainian air defence missile
At the same time, the Belarusian Ministry of Defence claimed that Belarusian air defence forces shot down a Ukrainian S-300 air defence missile during the wave of Russian attacks, with the wreckage falling onto Belarusian territory, the ISW also reported.
The US think tank said it was “currently unclear” whether Ukrainian air defences may have been responding to Russian rocket launches from Belarus, a tactic that Russian forces “have used repeatedly in support of their campaign against Ukrainian critical infrastructure.”
US ambassador posts New Year’s message of support to Ukrainians
On Friday morning, the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget A. Brink, posted a New Year’s message of support to the people of Ukraine.
The US diplomat said in a tweet: “The United States will continue to stand with Ukraine as partners and friends in 2023, and I wish you a peaceful New Year.”
Brink attached a video clip, in which she said:
“During these darkest days of the year, Russia continues to try to extinguish Ukraine’s light. In spite of the Kremlin’s brutality, its atrocities and its attempts to deprive you of heat and comfort, your courage and perseverance have only burned brighter.”
The US ambassador added: “The spirit of Ukraine continues to inspire the world in our shared pursuit of a better future. You have shown time and again that you will not be stopped by the Kremlin’s cruelty. This, among so much else, drives our enduring belief that Ukraine will prevail.”
Brink went on to say: “The American people see all you are willing to sacrifice in the fight for your freedom and your country. Your determination strengthens our resolve, and as we approach the New Year, I want to assure you that our commitment to Ukraine is ironclad. We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as partners and friends in 2023. And I wish you a peaceful and victorious New Year. Slava Ukraini.”
Friday is day 310 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, The Guardian, Ukrainska Pravda, understandingwar.org