Drones rain down on kyiv after Russian onslaught early Monday

In the early hours of this Monday some 23 explosive drones fell on kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, just three days after the authorities of this country have described the Russian attacks as the worst since the start of the Russian war in this territory on February 24th.

The security forces managed to shoot down 18 of them, according to their own reports on Telegram. Although no deaths were reported after this attack, the bombardment caused power cuts in 11 regions in the center and east of the country, including the capital region.

The Ukrainian military has reported increasing success in shooting down explosive missiles and drones.

This could be a sign that Russia is looking to bolster its forces by air after losing ground on the battlefield. Since October, the Kremlin has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, seeking to leave the country without heat or electricity during the harsh winter.

Debris from the downed drones damaged a road in the central Solomianskyi district and smashed the windows of a building in kyiv’s Shevchenkyvskyi district.

The onslaught has continued despite Western economic sanctions against Russia and superpower supplies of air defense systems to Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said that between Sunday and Monday at least three civilians were killed and 11 others wounded in other parts of the country, calling the incessant daily shelling “terror” and once again begging Western countries. to send in sophisticated air defense systems.

And he added at a meeting on regional threats held in Latvia that “a 100% air defense shield for Ukraine will be one of the most effective measures against Russian aggression” and that “this step is necessary right now”. reported that Russia had received a new order for Iranian-made drones.

This Monday was Saint Nicholas Day, an occasion that marks the beginning of the Christmas holidays in Ukraine and is when children receive their first gifts hidden under their pillows. The head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Serhii Kruk, said on Telegram that “this is how the Russians congratulated our children on the holidays” and attached photos of firefighters trying to control the flames in a building.

Ukraine’s human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets said that “on the night when the whole world expects a miracle, the terrorist country continues to terrorize the peaceful Ukrainian people.”

Nina Sobol, 59, who works for one of the city’s power companies, was on her way to work when the explosions took place. Like many of her companions, she waited outside of it while emergency services surveyed the damage. In her statements, she said that she was “very nervous” and “anxious because she never knows when a missile will arrive.”

On Friday Ukraine was attacked massively with dozens of missiles, causing widespread power outages. Four people were killed when a Russian missile ripped through an apartment building in the central Ukrainian town of Kryvyi Rih.

The Russian answer

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov reported that Russian air defenses shot down four US-made HARM missiles over Russia’s Belgorod region, located along Ukraine’s northeastern border near Kharkiv, information which could not be independently verified.

Some 14,000 people in Belgorod lost power on Monday as a result of Ukrainian shelling, the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Telegram.

The United States has provided Ukraine with HARM missiles, which are launched from warplanes and are intended to attack enemy radars.

Putin travels Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, to meet with his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, who has strong defense ties to Moscow and allowed the Kremlin to use his territory as a platform for attacking Ukraine. in addition to providing troops for the attack.

According to analysts, this meeting could help Putin to use Soviet-era weapons that would be in Lukashenko’s possession, while he could benefit from the necessary economic aid provided by Russia.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, in an assessment released Sunday, wintry weather and Russia’s depleted resources mean there is no possible attack anytime soon. He also said that “the ability of the Russian army, even reinforced with elements of the Belarusian armed forces, to prepare and carry out effective large-scale mechanized offensive operations in the coming months remains questionable.”

The publication concluded that “Lukashenko is unlikely to commit the Belarusian army (which would also have to be re-equipped) in the invasion of Ukraine.”

At the same time, warships from the Russian fleet left for China to hold joint naval exercises, as the two countries’ tensions with the United States escalate.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the United States was treading on dangerous ground by becoming involved in the war in Ukraine, stressing that “this dangerous and short-sighted policy has brought the United States and Russia to the brink of direct confrontation.” “, adding that “Moscow calls on the Joe Biden administration to soberly assess the situation and refrain from a dangerous escalation.”

With AP and Reuters