Ukraine war: Kyiv targeted by drone strikes again as Russia continues sustained attack on capital

The overnight attack is the 15th time Russia has targeted the Ukrainian capital in the past month
Police officers work at the site where a building was damaged during a Russian drone attack in Kyiv. (Credit: Getty Images)Police officers work at the site where a building was damaged during a Russian drone attack in Kyiv. (Credit: Getty Images)
Police officers work at the site where a building was damaged during a Russian drone attack in Kyiv. (Credit: Getty Images)

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv has once again been subjected to a Russian attack, with drones being shot out of the sky overnight.

The city was hit with heavy drone strikes over two nights on Saturday (27 May) and Sunday (28 May). Ukrainian officials have said that Kyiv's air defences have been able to destroy most of the drone so far.

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However, residents were urged to take shelter, with explosions and drone debris falling in part of the city. Buildings were damaged, with a shopping centre roof being set on fire, and at least one person was killed over the weekend by falling debris.

The Ukrainian military has said that 52 out of 54 Shahed drones of Iranian origin were shot down over Kyiv throughout the attacks on Saturday and Sunday. Explosions were also reported in the regions of Lviv, Odessa Vinnytsya and Khmelnytskyi.

A spokesperson from Operational Command South said that Russia had appeared to be making attempts to evade Kyiv's air defences with new methods. The drones in this newest strike appeared to have come towards the city from the north and south at low altitudes.

She said: “The enemy traditionally used the eastern coast of the Azov Sea to attack, but the routes of these aircraft were somewhat unconventional. They tried to bypass southern air defences as much as possible … They mostly flew over the temporarily occupied territories and dispersed across Ukraine.

Buildings were damaged by falling debris after a Russian drone strike on Kyiv across the weekend. (Credit: Getty Images)Buildings were damaged by falling debris after a Russian drone strike on Kyiv across the weekend. (Credit: Getty Images)
Buildings were damaged by falling debris after a Russian drone strike on Kyiv across the weekend. (Credit: Getty Images)
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“They are trying to gravitate towards riverbeds to hide the direction of movement of the Shahed groups. We continue to study new approaches in tactics to be as effective as possible.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his troops for their work in bringing down the drones. He called the air defence teams "heroes" in a post on social media on Sunday.

The newest strikes come as Russia intensifies its bombardment of Ukrainian cities and regions. Recent attacks have seen a medical facility in Dnipro targeted, with two people killed and several others injured.

War experts claim that Russia may be subjecting Ukraine to a series of sustained attacks in an effort to deplete their supplies ahead of an expected Ukrainian spring counter-offensive.

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Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, told the BBC over the weekend that Ukraine could prepared to launch the counter-offensive "tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week". Zelensky had previously held back on launching the major move in the conflict until military aid promised from Western countries had fully arrived.

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