Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
4 Killed as Waves of Suicide Drones Strike Ukraine's Capital
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
October 17, 2022

Share

 

Waves of explosives-laden suicide drones struck Ukraine’s capital Monday, setting buildings ablaze and tearing a hole in one of them. People scurried for shelter or tried to shoot down the kamikazes.

The concentrated use of the drones was the second barrage in as many weeks — after months in which air attacks had become a rarity in central Kyiv. The assault sowed terror and frayed nerves as blasts rocked the city. Energy facilities were struck and one drone largely collapsed a residential building, killing four people, authorities said.

Intense, sustained bursts of gunfire rang out as the Iranian-made Shahed drones buzzed overhead, apparently from soldiers trying to destroy them. Others headed for shelter, nervously scanning the skies. But Ukraine has become grimly accustomed to attacks nearly eight months into the Russian invasion, and city life resumed as rescuers picked through debris.

Previous Russian airstrikes on Kyiv were mostly with missiles. Analysts believe the slower-moving Shahed drones can be programmed to accurately hit certain targets using GPS unless the system fails.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday’s barrage came in successive waves of 28 drones — in what many fear could become a more common mode of attack as Russia seeks to avoid depleting its stockpiles of long-range precision missiles.

Five drones plunged into Kyiv itself, said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. In the Kyiv region, at least 13 were shot down, all flying in from the south, said Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s air force.

One strike appeared to target the city’s heating network, hitting an operations center. Another slammed into a four-story residential building, ripping open a gaping hole and collapsing at least three apartments on top of each other. Four bodies were recovered, including those of a woman who was 6 months pregnant and her husband, Klitschko said. An older woman and another man also were killed there.

An Associated Press photographer caught one of the drones on camera, its triangle-shaped wing and pointed warhead clearly visible against the blue sky.

“The whole night, and the whole morning, the enemy terrorizes the civilian population,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post. “Kamikaze drones and missiles are attacking all of Ukraine.”

“The enemy can attack our cities, but it won’t be able to break us,” he wrote.

Andrii Yermak, head of the presidential office, posted on social media that Shahed drones were used.

Zelenskyy, citing Ukrainian intelligence services, has previously alleged Russia has ordered 2,400 of the drones from Iran. Russia has rebranded them as Geran-2 drones — meaning “geranium” in Russian. A photo of debris from one of Monday’s strikes, posted by Klitschko, showed the word Geran-2 marked on a mangled tail fin.

Iran has previously denied providing Russia with weapons, although its Revolutionary Guard chief has boasted about providing arms to the world’s top powers, without elaborating.

The drones pack an explosive charge and can linger over targets before nosediving into them. Their blasts jolted people awake. They included Snizhana Kutrakova, 42, who lives close to one of the strikes.

“I’m full of rage,” she said. “Full of rage and hate.”

The Russian military said it used “long-range air- and sea-based high-precision weapons” to strike Ukrainian military and energy facilities. They hit “all assigned targets,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for European Union sanctions on Iran for providing drones to Russia. He reiterated Ukraine’s need for air defenses and ammunition, saying he’d addressed a meeting of EU counterparts from a bomb shelter because air raid sirens were howling.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the 27-nation bloc is gathering evidence about Iran’s drone sales to Russia, and if the allegations are true, “we will be ready to react with the tools at our disposal.” The EU also approved a military training program in Europe for thousands of Ukrainian troops and plans for about 500 million euros ($486 million) in extra funds to buy weapons for Ukraine.

Iranian-made drones have been used elsewhere in Ukraine in recent weeks against urban centers and infrastructure, including power stations. At just $20,000 apiece, the Shahed is only a fraction of the cost of higher-tech missiles and conventional aircraft. The Kalibr cruise missile that Russia has used widely in Ukraine costs the Russian military about $1 million each.

Drone swarms also challenge Ukrainian air defenses. Western nations have promised systems that can shoot down drones but much of that weaponry has yet to arrive in Ukraine and, in some cases, may be months away.

“The challenges are serious because the air defense forces and means are the same as they were at the beginning of the war,” said Ihnat, the air force spokesman. Some air defense weaponry supplied by the West can only be used during daylight hours when targets are visible, he added.

Russia forces also struck energy infrastructure elsewhere on Monday, apparently seeking to compound pressure on Kyiv’s government after previous attacks knocked out power supplies.

Shmyhal, the prime minister, said hundreds of settlements were without power after missile attacks on critical infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.

Ukraine’s nuclear operator said Russian shelling cut off power again to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, one of the most worrying flashpoints of the Russian invasion.

The nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, needs power for critical safety systems. When shelling severs its power supply lines, the plant is forced to fall back on diesel generators – a temporary stopgap.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had said Friday that there was no need for more widespread attacks against Ukraine — after a barrage of strikes earlier in the week that he said were retaliation for the bombing of a bridge connecting Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula with Russia.

However, Putin also said that seven of 29 targets designated after the bridge attack were not hit “the way the Defense Ministry had planned,” so Moscow’s forces would continue to target them. He didn’t specify the targets.

After months during which strikes in central Kyiv were rare, last week’s attacks put the country and its capital back on edge.

Monday’s strike on Kyiv came amid intensified fighting in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as a continued Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south near Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Zelenskyy said Sunday that there was heavy fighting around the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk region.

The Donetsk and Luhansk regions make up the industrial east known as the Donbas, and were two of four regions annexed by Russia in September in defiance of international law.

In the south, Ukrainian air forces reported shooting down nine drones over the Mykolaiv region and six more over the Odesa region. The governor of the eastern Kharkiv region said overnight attacks on a city and villages killed one woman and injured four more people.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

‘King of the Hill’ Voice Actor Jonathan Joss Fatally Shot Outside His Texas Home

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Crews Battle Active Wildfire in Yokuts Valley, Evacuation Warning Issued

DON'T MISS

Not Quite ‘Hunger Games,’ but Fresno Budget Hearings Start

DON'T MISS

Clovis CPA Sentenced to Prison for $800K Bank Fraud Scheme

DON'T MISS

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

DON'T MISS

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

DON'T MISS

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

DON'T MISS

Why Trump Is Mad at ‘Sleazebag’ Leonard Leo

DON'T MISS

Trump Amplifies Outlandish Robot Biden Conspiracy Theory

UP NEXT

Ukraine and Russia End Their Latest Round of Direct Peace Talks in Istanbul

UP NEXT

In Marseille, a Shadow Becomes Art in Banksy’s Latest Street Mural

UP NEXT

UN May Cut Staff by 20%, Internal Memo Says

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Says Israel Accepts Witkoff’s New Gaza Truce Proposal, Media Report

UP NEXT

Food Trucks in Gaza Raided, Underscoring Aid Distribution Problems

UP NEXT

US and Russia Clash in Public as the Ukraine War Heats Up

UP NEXT

Ireland to Press Ahead With Trade Ban on Israeli-Occupied Areas

UP NEXT

Palestinians Flock to US-Backed Aid Centers Despite Concern Over Checks

UP NEXT

Germany Threatens Steps Against Israel as Tone Shifts Over Gaza

UP NEXT

Far-Right Israelis Confront Palestinians, Other Israelis in Chaotic Jerusalem March

Clovis CPA Sentenced to Prison for $800K Bank Fraud Scheme

12 hours ago

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

12 hours ago

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

13 hours ago

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

13 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

13 hours ago

Why Trump Is Mad at ‘Sleazebag’ Leonard Leo

13 hours ago

Trump Amplifies Outlandish Robot Biden Conspiracy Theory

13 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Locating Missing At-Risk Man

14 hours ago

Mattel Is Combining Film and Television Units to Create Mattel Studios

15 hours ago

Campbell’s Co. Says Sales Rise as More Americans Cook at Home

15 hours ago

‘King of the Hill’ Voice Actor Jonathan Joss Fatally Shot Outside His Texas Home

HOUSTON — Jonathan Joss, a voice actor best known for his work on the animated television series “King of the Hill,” was fatally shot near h...

11 hours ago

Photo of caution tape
11 hours ago

‘King of the Hill’ Voice Actor Jonathan Joss Fatally Shot Outside His Texas Home

Fresno County fire crews are battling a wildland blaze in Yokuts Valley near Rector Lane, where the RECTOR incident has burned 10 acres with the potential to spread to 100 on Monday, June 2, 2025. (CalFire)
12 hours ago

Fresno County Crews Battle Active Wildfire in Yokuts Valley, Evacuation Warning Issued

12 hours ago

Not Quite ‘Hunger Games,’ but Fresno Budget Hearings Start

Photo of a laptop with a Department of Justice logo on the screens
12 hours ago

Clovis CPA Sentenced to Prison for $800K Bank Fraud Scheme

12 hours ago

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

13 hours ago

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

13 hours ago

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

Stephanie Marie Zamarripa is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for June 2, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
13 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend