Putin vowed revenge against shock Ukrainian drone attacks, now his is living up to it
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses participants of the international military-technical forum Army-2023 via a video link in Moscow, Russia, in this picture released August 14, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo
Four people have been killed after Russia launched a barrage of drone and missile attacks across Ukraine last night.
Explosions were heard throughout the city as 20 people were also injured, according to Ukrainian officials.
The attack followed a warning from Vladimir Putin that the Kremlin would seek revenge after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK partly blamed Britain for the drone attacks, which Ukraine said destroyed dozens of aircraft.
Andrei Kelin claimed Kyiv was escalating the conflict with its recent attacks in an interview with Sky News.
He pointed to Operation Spider’s Web, the codename for the mass covert drone attack.
Mr Kelin urged Ukraine to “not try to engulf World War III”, according to Sky News.
In a signal that he believed the attack was supported by Kyiv’s Western allies, he added it involved “provision of very high technology, so-called geospaced data, which only can be done by those who have it in possession”.
“And this is London and Washington,” he said.
Kyiv’s metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged a train between stations, Kyiv’s military administration said.
In the Solomenskiy district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of an apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.
Falling concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone’s engine.
Earlier in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft.
Reuters witnesses reported a series of explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites.
Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks.
Russian air defences also shot down 174 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
