Dec. 19 (UPI) — The Ukrainian military reported a wave of Russian attack drones filled the skies of Kyiv early Monday with at least one damaging a key infrastructure facility, leaving much of the capital city without electricity and heat.
While Kyiv officials said most of the drones were shot down, the ones that did get through caused explosions in and around the city. Ukraine said it eliminated 30 of 35 drones in the barrage.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said Monday technicians were working to stabilize the power and heat supply after the attack. Ukrainian Air Force officials said the drones used were Iranian-made, self-detonating Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 aircraft launched from the “eastern coast of the Sea of Azov.”
Kyiv regional Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba said private homes were also hit.
“People are given help,” Kuleba said. “They are under the supervision of doctors.”
Despite weeks of attacks on the key Donetsk region city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces have held firm, preventing Russian forces from advancing in the region.
“The Bakhmut direction is key,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday night. “We keep the city, although the occupiers are doing everything so that not a single undamaged wall remains there.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the meantime, was set to visit Belarus on Monday, where Russian troops had worked with Belarusian forces. Some anticipate that Putin may encourage Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to join Russia in the invasion of Ukraine.
