At least one person was killed as Russia launched massive missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Monday.
The overnight attack caused multiple fires, damaged a subway station, houses, shops, a kindergarten as well as commercial property in the city, officials said. A large number of people fled to an underground station to take shelter. “Russian strikes are always an assault on humanity - in Kyiv, a kindergarten caught fire, along with residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address on Monday.
Barrage of missiles pounded Kyiv from midnight until around 6 a.m. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 426 Iranian-made Shaheed kamikaze and decoy drones overnight, as well as 24 missiles of various types. Of these, 200 drones were intercepted with 203 more jammed or lost from radars. Explosions were heard across the city as air defence radars were repelling missile and drone attacks. Air raid warnings were issued across most Ukrainian regions.
The massive Russian air raids came after Ukraine’s large-scale drone attacks that paralyized the work of Russia’s air transport over the weekend. Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed in airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg, resulting in chaos in airports. The work of trains were also transported.
On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelenskiy invited Russia to peace negotiations and said he was even ready for a face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a bid to push forward cease-fire talks amid growing US pressure.
