Russia launches drone attack on Kyiv, killing at least 1
(Update 1: Adds detail throughout, alters headline, lede)
Lviv, Ukraine, Oct 17 (EFE).- Kyiv was rocked by several explosions Monday morning as Russia carried out attacks with so-called kamikaze drones, Ukraine’s authorities said.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, said at least one person was killed when a blast hit a residential building and that work to rescue another casualty believed to be trapped under rubble was ongoing.
Earlier, Klitschko said 18 people had been rescued from a residential building damaged in the drone attack.
In a social media statement the mayor said 28 drones were launched in the direction of the Ukrainian capital and that all but five projectiles were taken down by the air defense system.
One of the drones slammed into a residential building in downtown Kyiv.
The blasts come exactly one week after Russia launched nationwide strikes on Ukraine, killing at least 19.
Klitschko published an image on Twitter allegedly showing the wreckage of a Geran-2 drone, the Russian name given to Iranian-made Shahed-136 loitering munitions.
“Rescue operations are ongoing. Extinguishing of destroyed building structures and demolition of rubble is ongoing,” he wrote.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a video on Telegram showing the aftermath of Monday’s strikes with the statement: “All night and all morning, the enemy terrorizes the civilian population. Kamikaze drones and missiles are attacking all of Ukraine. A residential building was hit in Kyiv.”
“The enemy can attack our cities, but it won’t be able to break us. The occupiers will get only fair punishment and condemnation of future generations. And we will get victory.”
Ukraine says Russia has used Iranian-supplied kamikaze drones in strikes against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. EFE
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