Residents of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv (Kiev) woke up to a swarm of so-called ‘kamikaze’ drones raining down on the city on Monday morning.
Pictures and video footage show Ukrainian police officers and military servicemen taking desperate potshots at the drones with small arms as they swoop down on Kyiv, which suffered at least four strikes, according to city officials.
The country’s air force claims to have downed six drones over the Odesa region and nine over the Mykolaiv region in overnight attacks, along with three cruise missiles as “Russian troops attacked critical infrastructure in the eastern direction”, per Ukrainian state media.
A drone approaches for an attack in Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
A police officer fires at a flying drone following attacks in Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
“All night and all morning, the enemy terrorises the civilian population. Kamikaze drones and missiles are attacking all of Ukraine. A residential building was hit in Kyiv,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky in a statement on the attacks uploaded to Telegram.
“The enemy can attack our cities, but it won’t be able to break us. The occupiers will get only fair punishment and condemnation of future generations. And we will get victory,” he vowed.
A drone flies over Kyiv during an attack on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine officials said on October 17, 2022 that the capital Kyiv had been struck four times in an early morning Russian attack with Iranian drones that damaged a residential building and targeted the central train station. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
A police officer fires at a flying drone following attacks in Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
The American embassy in Kyiv characterised the drone strikes as “desperate and reprehensible Russian attacks… against civilians and civilian infrastructure” in a statement uploaded to Twitter.
“We admire the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people,” the continued, adding: “We will stand with you for as long as it takes.”
A drone attack in Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
Firefighters conduct work in a destroyed building after the Russian drone attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine on October 17, 2022. At least 4 separate explosions were heard in Kyiv, while authorities reported that the attacks were carried out with kamikaze drones. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russia is reported to be using Iranian-made drones, and in particular Shahed-136 drones, in its most recent strikes on Ukraine — with Western intelligence suggesting stocks of its own long-range missiles and so on are likely running low at this point in the war.
It has been further reported that specialists from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are on the ground in Ukraine, training Russian drone crews and possible even directing strikes themselves — though Iran’s official position is that they have not sent Russia any drones for use in the war whatsoever.
Police officers check the explosion site after a drone attack in Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
Local residents run away next to police officers after a drone attack in Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
“Two rogue states, [R]ussia and Iran, have joined forces to improve the tactics of the Shahed-drone terror,” commented Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence following Monday’s strikes.
“Question: Which countries are the next targets? Is it time to stop the Shahed-terrorist?” they added.
Debris is seen on the ground near the site of a drone attack in Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
A police expert holds a fragment of a drone with a handwritten inscription reading “For Belgorod. For Luch” after a drone attack in Kyiv on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)