Kyiv (AP) — Ukrainian forces shot down thirteen drones Wednesday, officials said, as Russia launched its first major drone strike in the capital Kyiv in weeks and the U. S. sent its complex Patriot air defense formula to help Ukraine.
There are no ongoing peace talks to end the conflict, which has killed thousands, displaced millions and turned cities into ruins. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week called on Russia to start flying over Christmas, the first step toward a peace deal.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that a “Christmas ceasefire” is not on the agenda.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said explosions rocked the central district of Shevchenkivskyi on Wednesday morning and two administrative buildings were damaged. An air strike alert was lifted three hours after it began.
In one district of Kyiv, citizens said they heard the sound of an Iranian Shahed drone, known as “mopeds” among Ukrainians because of the roar of their engines, followed by a loud explosion in a building next to their house.
“I settled into the kitchen, heard everything, heard the hum of the ‘motorcycle’ and ran to the bathroom,” said Yana, 39, who placed herself in a position to work.
“I hope this is all over. “
An attack appears to have ripped off a component from the roof of a nearby enclosed brick building. We didn’t know what construction was for.
Some of the windows of nearby residential buildings were broken. Pieces of roof were strewn in the snow along with other debris. The residents shocked, sheltered against the cold, the damage.
They said no one gave the impression of having been injured.
The white tail of a visual drone in the wreckage. There are M529 Geran-2 written on it and a handwritten message “To Ryazan!!!”an obvious reference to what Moscow says about a Ukrainian attack on an airstrip inside Russia this month.
‘I’m proud’
Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls an “army special operation” to “de-Nazify” its neighbor, has unleashed barrages of missile attacks on electrical infrastructure since October. attack.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said the strike was intentionally scheduled after dark to make it difficult to shoot down drones.
“The air defenses worked well. ” He said, “Thirteen (drones) shot down. “
“Well done, I’m proud,” Zelenskyy said in a video message, praising the air defense systems.
Ukraine has already gained air defense systems from the West, adding the United States. The Patriot is one of the top advanced.
U. S. officials told Reuters an announcement on a resolution on the source of the formula could come as early as Thursday.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that U. S. Patriot missile defense systems are not being used to protect the U. S. missile defense systems. The US would be a valid target for Russian movements in Ukraine if Washington allowed their handover to Kyiv.
The morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the importance of air defense systems.
In the last 24 hours, he said, in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions “the enemy introduced 1 air strike and 11 missile strikes, adding 3 to civilian infrastructure. . . (e) introduced more than 60 rocket launcher attacks. “
And Russian shells hit the construction of the regional administration in the central square of the recently liberated southern city of Kherson, Ukraine’s deputy presidential chief said.
After a series of Ukrainian counteroffensive lightning that saw Kyiv regain some of the territory captured through Moscow in the early weeks of the war, neither side has made significant territorial gains over the past month.
Military analysts say a winter stalemate may occur even as heavy fighting continues, particularly in the Donetsk region, where Russian forces are racing to capture the town of Bakhmut.
Zelenskiyy said the president and army officers discussed measures to ensure border security at a Supreme Command assembly on Wednesday.
The talks began a day after Moscow’s ally, Belarus, announced increased preparation for fighting in the south of the country. Russia used Belarus as a launching pad for its invasion of Ukraine.
Millions of civilians enduring Europe’s conflict since World War II have faced electricity, heating and water cuts as sub-zero temperatures set in.
In Ataris, some 70 countries and establishments have pledged just over a billion euros ($1. 1 billion) to help with water, food, energy, health and shipping in Ukraine.
Sergey Kovalenko, head of power company YASNO, said on Facebook that maintenance work was underway on the power grid, but that Kyiv still had two-thirds of the electrical power it needed.
One U. S. citizen among dozens of detainees passed into Ukraine in a prisoner swap with Russia, Ukraine’s head of the presidential administration said Wednesday.
Andriy Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app that Suedi Murekezi had “helped our people” before ending up in detention in Russia.