1 year ago
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Russia has stepped up attacks on Kyiv over the past several days, employing both missiles and drones in numbers that had not been seen since early March. On Monday, it was reported that 11 of Russia’s hypersonic ”Iskander” ballistic missiles had been launched into the city in a rare daytime attack. Tens of thousands ran for shelters as others hunkered down in place, surprised by the fast-moving attack. The wave of missiles followed just hours after one of the largest drone attacks of the entire invasion, when Russia launched at least 59 Iranian-made Shahed drones at Kyiv on Sunday evening.
There have been multiple claims that Russia’s goal in these attacks was to destroy the Patriot missile battery that recently arrived in Kyiv, along with other Western air defense systems now guarding the city. If that’s the case, Russia’s success in this effort has been extremely limited. Ukraine reports that all of the Iskander missiles and 58 of the 59 drones were taken down by air defense systems. There were injuries reported due to debris and one large building was set on fire by the remains of a falling missile, but Russian attempts to cause significant damage in Kyiv failed, just as they did three days earlier when air defenses stopped a combined attack using 10 cruise missiles and 20 drones.
Shortly after the attack on Kyiv, there were explosions heard around Moscow. Russia reported that eight drones had entered the area around the capital, with all of them being either shot down or diverted using electronic warfare. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin immediately denounced the attack as “terrorist activity” and insisted that the drones were aimed at “civilian residences,” though how anyone could know this if not a single drone reached its target isn’t clear. What is clear is that after razing Ukrainian cities, launching daily missile attacks on sites across Ukraine, and striking homes, offices, schools, churches, hospitals, and infrastructure, the sight of drones around Moscow appears to be driving Russia nuts.
