Russia Targets Kyiv With Daytime Attacks
By VOA
Ukrainian officials reported on Monday new daytime Russian airstrikes on Kyiv after two nights of intense aerial assaults on the capital city.
During the morning hours, debris from missiles intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses fell in parts of the city, landing in the middle of traffic on a roadway, while also starting a fire on a building’s roof. At least one civilian was injured.
Ukraine said it shot down all 11 ballistic and cruise missiles Russia aimed at Kyiv. But Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram there were explosions in the central part of the city and told people to stay in shelters.
The attacks Monday followed what Klitschko said was “another difficult night for the capital.”
Across the country, the Ukrainian air force said that over Sunday night it shot down 37 out of 40 cruise missiles and 29 out of 35 drones launched by Moscow’s forces. But at least one person was killed and 18 wounded in the attacks, authorities said.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said Russian forces targeted the city for the 15th time in May.
Authorities in western Ukraine said Russian strikes hit a military facility in Khmelnytskiy, knocking five aircraft out of service.
“Russia’s drone and missile attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities cannot be seen as usual, no matter how frequent they grow,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted. “They are all war crimes and must be stopped by further strengthening Ukraine’s air defense, including with F-16s, and defeating Russian aggression as such.”
The consistent aerial attacks have come ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive that Kyiv leaders have said will seek to reclaim territory Russia seized in eastern Ukraine since it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Iran sanctions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced a bill Sunday proposing 50 years of additional sanctions against Iran.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the bill was a response to what Kyiv says is Tehran’s weapons supplies to Moscow. The draft includes a complete ban on trade with Iran, on investments, and transferring technologies. If the bill becomes law, Ukraine will forbid Iranian transit across the Ukrainian territory as well as use of its airspace and freeze Iranian assets.
Kyiv and its allies say Iran has been supplying Russia with arms, including hundreds of drones, since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year. Tehran rejects the allegations.
Initially, Iran denied supplying Shahed drones to Russia but later said it had provided a small number before the conflict began.
