Hours-long Russian drone attack on Kyiv damaged buildings and cut power

Russia has launched its latest overnight drone strike in Ukraine, targeting the capital Kyiv. The attack continued into the afternoon and injured at least one person, city officials said Saturday.

According to city military administrator Sergei Popko, debris from downed drones fell across six districts of the city, injuring a police officer, damaging residential buildings and starting fires.

“Another night. Another air raid. Another drone attack. The armed forces of the Russian Federation again attacked Kyiv using old and familiar tactics,” Popko wrote on social networks.

According to him, all drones aimed at Kyiv were shot down.

Ukrainian energy company DTEK said that a high-voltage line supplying the capital and two distribution networks in the Kyiv region were damaged.

DTEK said in a statement that power supply has been largely restored and repair work continues.

Reuters correspondents reported hearing explosions in and around the city during an air raid raid that lasted more than five hours. One drone was seen flying low over the city amid the roar of automatic weapons.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian military said air defenses destroyed 39 of the 71 Russian drones launched and another 21 were “locally lost.”

President Vladimir Zelensky said that strikes were also recorded in the central Poltava, northeastern Sumy and Kharkov regions.

“This year we have faced the threat from Shahed drones almost every night – sometimes in the morning and even during the day,” he wrote on social media, referring to Iranian-made attack drones used by Russia.

Russian forces have carried out regular airstrikes on Ukrainian cities and towns behind the front lines of the war, which began when Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

Kyiv’s military said Friday that Moscow’s forces launched more than 2,000 drones at civilian and military targets across Ukraine in October alone.

Russia denies attacking civilians and says energy facilities are legitimate targets as long as they are part of Ukrainian military infrastructure.