Russia launches mass drone attack against Kyiv
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia launched an overnight drone attack against Kyiv, striking multiple residential buildings and causing fires throughout the city, local authorities reported in the early hours of March 23.
Two residential buildings in the city’s Dniprovskyi district came under fire, according to authorities. A fire broke out on the upper floors of one after drone debris struck the building, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The 20th floor of a second apartment building in the same district was hit, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. Prior to that, drone wreckage struck a catering facility in the area.
Drone fragments also hit two high-rise apartments in the Podilskyi district, causing fires at each location, Tkachenko said.
Emergency services have been dispatched to the attack sites. There is currently no information about casualties.
In other districts of the city, wreckage from drones caused fires and property damage, Tkachenko reported. A fire broke out in an open area of the Desnianskyi district, while a car in the Shevchenkivsky district was damaged.
Debris also fell in an industrial area of the Holosiivskyi district, Klitschko said.
A series of explosions rocked the capital throughout the night, as air defense units remained active in the city, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground.
The attack comes less the week into the partial 30-day “ceasefire” on attacks against energy infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine. The ceasefire, which the Kremlin announced on March 18 following a call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, has not interrupted Moscow’s aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities.
“Today, the Russians are once again demonstrating their ‘desire for peace,'” Tkachenko said.
“In reality, terrorists are simply launching deadly weapons at residential buildings."
The Kyiv IndependentChris York