At least five civilians were injured in Russian drone strikes on Kyiv early Monday, according to authorities in the Ukrainian capital.
Kyiv’s military administration reported that fallen debris had likely hit a two-story building, roads and vehicles.
The administration said it was the fourth air attack on Ukraine’s capital in the first eight days of May.
Ukraine’s Air Force said its air defense systems shot down all 35 Iranian-made drones launched by Russia from the Bryansk region near the Ukrainian border.
“Even a 100% result of hitting air targets doesn’t guarantee safety where air defense is working,” Ukraine’s Air Force said early Monday.
“Anti-aircraft missile and damaged UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] debris must return to the ground, so take care of yourselves and your loved ones,” it added.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko called the attack “the most massive attack on our city since the beginning of the war.”
In the Black Sea port city of Odesa, the district military administration reported a cruise missile strike hitting a warehouse. There were apparently no injuries or deaths.
Ukraine’s military said it recorded 149 air, missile and multiple-launch system strikes in the eastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions overnight.
Some of the attacks led to civilian deaths, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine added without specifying.
The strikes precede Russia’s May 9 public holiday, a central event under President Vladimir Putin that celebrates the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War II.
Russia has reported increasing drone strikes and sabotage inside its territory ahead of an expected spring counteroffensive from Ukraine.
On Sunday, the Russian army said it had repelled 22 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea.
Ukraine has been gearing up for a counteroffensive, with some experts suggesting that the drone strikes and acts of sabotage on Russian-held territory are part of its preparations.
AFP contributed reporting.
