KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched an overnight barrage of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Kyiv, Ukraine’s air force said Monday, as children prepared their return to school across the country after the summer vacation.
Several series of explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital in the early hours. Debris from intercepted missiles and drones fell in every district of Kyiv, injuring three people and damaging two kindergartens, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said. City authorities reported multiple fires.
After more than 900 days of war, the two sides show no sign of letting up in the fight or moving closer to the negotiating table. The two sides are pursuing ambitious ground offensives, with the Ukrainians driving into Russia’s Kursk region and the Russian army pushing deeper into the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Both sides are battering each other with regular long-range drone and missile strikes, sometimes launching more than 100 weapons in aerial attacks that suggest they are still pouring resources into weapon production.
Russian air defenses intercepted 158 Ukrainian drones during the night from Saturday to Sunday, including two over Moscow and nine over the surrounding region, the Defense Ministry said.
The U.K. Defense Ministry said Sunday that Russian forces accelerated their advance on they key Donetsk stronghold Povkrosk over the past week and are likely within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of the city.
Elsewhere along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line there have been no significant changes, it said.
Russia launched 35 missiles of various types and 26 Shahed drones at Ukraine on the night from Sunday to Monday, the Ukrainian air force said. Nine ballistic missiles, 13 cruise missiles and 20 drones were downed, it said.
Residents of the capital hurried into the city’s bomb shelters.
Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said emergency services were called to the Holosiivskyi and Solomianskyi districts. One person was reportedly injured by falling debris in the Shevchenkivskyi district, Klitschko said.
“There will be an answer for everything. The enemy will feel it,” the head of the presidential office, Andrii Yermak, posted on his Telegram page following the attack.
An explosion also rang out in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, according to Ukrainian media. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region, confirmed an early morning strike on Kharkiv's Industrialnyi district and said it set a residential building and several others on fire.
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Illia Novikov, The Associated Press