Kyiv Blitz: Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital with missiles and drones in one of the heaviest attacks on the city in recent weeks. The country believes that the objective of the attack is the destruction of a Patriot air defense system supplied to Ukraine by the United States.
"This is the eighth missile attack on Kyiv since the beginning of May. The enemy launched a complex and sophisticated attack from several directions that included drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. The attack was unusual in its intensity, the largest amount of missiles in the shortest time we have seen so far," said Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military district. The Ukrainian military said in a statement that 18 cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, including six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, were fired at the capital within minutes. According to the military, all missiles and drones fired at the capital were intercepted.
Not near Gaza: Russian missile interception over Kyiv
The air defense systems around the capital were significantly activated and residents documented at least 20 launches of anti-aircraft missiles throughout the city, and the photos published mention the operation of the Iron Dome batteries in Israel. It is unclear at this stage whether any air defense system was hit, but several explosions were recorded on the ground, indicating missile strikes. A car park in the north of the capital was damaged and images of burning buses were circulated on social media.
Local media published photos of debris they claimed belonged to a Russian Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile apparently intercepted by Ukrainian air defense systems. If true, this is the second missile of this type to be successfully intercepted, after the Russian Air Force previously claimed that existing interception systems were incapable of hitting the missile due to its high speed. Ukraine claimed that last week the Russians fired a Kinzhal missile in an attempt to hit the Patriot battery handed over to Kyiv from the United States, but the advanced system managed to intercept the missile. This is the first interception of a hypersonic missile in history.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who pledged to hand over hundreds of anti-aircraft missiles and other long-range missiles to Kyiv after Britain sent several Storm Duo-based long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine.
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