Kyiv endures largest drone attack since Feb 2022
Over 40 "Shahid 136" drones target the Ukrainian capital in a five hour air raid
Kyiv - One person was killed and at least two others were injured as the Ukrainian capital was subjected to the largest Russian drone attack of the war last night, in an assault that began just after 1am and lasted for well over five hours. According to the Ukrainian air force, 54 Iranian supplied “Shahid 136” suicide drones were launched at targets across Ukraine, with the majority targeting Kyiv.
The Ukrainian air force claimed 52 incoming drones shot down, with over 40 downed in the skies above Kyiv alone, as several waves of the drones attempted to penetrate the capital’s air defense network. Whilst it’s difficult to independently verify these figures, the reporting of air defense activity by the Ukrainian air force has typically been accurate.
Gunfire and explosions could be heard and the night was lit up by the light of Ukrainian air defenses engaging incoming targets, searchlights scanning the sky, and Russian drones going down in flames after being successfully hit. The thunder-like rumble of air defense interceptions in the distance and the sharp crack of nearer explosions continued until dawn broke in the Ukrainian capital, the 14th such assault in May. Ukrainian authorities described the attack as “the most massive drone attack on the capital since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.”
In a testament to the increasingly capable Ukrainian air defense network surrounding the capital, no Russian munitions managed to successfully impact their targets in the city, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. At present, the sole fatality in the raid was a 41 year old man, who was killed as falling debris struck a gas station in the Solomianskyi district of the city, according to Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.
Falling debris damaged a number of other commercial and residential properties across the city according to city authorities. In the Holosiivskyi district, a large fire took hold at several industrial warehouses.
Russia has been increasingly relying on the Iranian supplied Shahid 136 to carry out raids on Ukraine. The small muniton is unsophisticated but cheap - costing around $22,000 - and relatively easy to manufacture, meaning it can be launched in large numbers. Even when the drones don’t hit their targets, engaging them depletes Ukraine’s stock of continually dwindling surface to air missiles.
The Iranian government has repeatedly claimed it was not supplying munitions to Russia, despite the mountain of verifiable evidence proving otherwise. On Saturday the Iranian foreign ministry claimed that Ukraine’s “false claims” were “done with the aim of attracting as much military and financial aid from Western countries as possible.” Regardless of Tehran’s protests, identifiable components recovered from downed Shahid 136 drones, as well as other evidence, proves the veracity of Kyiv’s claims.
A senior Kyiv based EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me that there was “clearly not enough pressure” being put on the Iranian regime to end their supply of munitions to Russia.
The latest Russian assault came as Ukraine is widely believed to be in the final stages of preparations for their long-awaited spring counteroffensive. Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, claimed that the counteroffensive was “ready to begin”.
The same day, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi posted a slick army recruitment video on his Twitter and Telegram channels, heavily featuring some of Ukraine‘s most formidable western equipment, including German Leopard 2 tanks and American HIMARS rocket launchers, which is currently being massed for the upcoming offensive. “The time has come to take back what belongs to us”, Zaluzhnyi said.