Russia unleashed waves of air strikes on Kyiv overnight in what officials said appeared to be the largest drone attack on the city since the start of the war, as the Ukrainian capital prepared to celebrate the anniversary of its founding on Sunday.

Ukraine’s Air Force said it downed 52 out of the 54 Russia-launched drones, calling it a record attack with the Iranian-made ‘kamikaze’ drones. It was not immediately clear how many of the drones were shot over Kyiv.

In what also appears to be the first deadly attack on Kyiv in May and the 14th assault this month, falling debris killed a 41-year-old man, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The pre-dawn attacks came on the last Sunday of May when the capital celebrates Kyiv Day, the anniversary of its official founding 1,541 years ago. The day is typically marked by street fairs, live concerts and special museum exhibitions – plans for which have been made this year too, but on a smaller scale.

‘The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians,’ Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, said on his Telegram channel.

A drone exploding during a Russian strike on Kyiv on May 28, 2023

A drone exploding during a Russian strike on Kyiv on May 28, 2023

A drone exploding during a Russian strike on Kyiv on May 28, 2023

Rescuers work at a site of a building damaged during a Russian strike today

Rescuers work at a site of a building damaged during a Russian strike today

Rescuers work at a site of a building damaged during a Russian strike today

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow

Air Force said on Telegram that Russia had targeted military and critical infrastructure facilities in the central regions of Ukraine, and the Kyiv region in particular.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the information.

With a Ukrainian counteroffensive looming 15 months into the war, Moscow has intensified air strikes after a lull of nearly two months, targeting chiefly military site and supplies. Waves of attacks now come several times a week.

The Sunday attacks came after Kyiv said that combat clashes eased around the besieged city of Bakhmut in southeastern Ukraine, the site of the war’s longest battle.

Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said the attack was carried out in several waves, and air alerts lasted more than five hours.

‘Today, the enemy decided to ‘congratulate’ the people of Kyiv on Kyiv Day with the help of their deadly UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles),’ Popko said on the Telegram messaging channel.

Several districts of Kyiv, by far the largest Ukrainian city with a population of around 3 million, suffered in the overnight attacks, officials said, including the historical Pecherskyi neighbourhood.

A firefighter working at a site of a tobacco factory in Kyiv damaged during the strike

A firefighter working at a site of a tobacco factory in Kyiv damaged during the strike

A firefighter working at a site of a tobacco factory in Kyiv damaged during the strike

Rescuers working at a site of a building in Kyiv damaged during the drone strike

Rescuers working at a site of a building in Kyiv damaged during the drone strike

Rescuers working at a site of a building in Kyiv damaged during the drone strike

Falling debris at a building this morning after Russia dropped an air strike on Kyiv

Falling debris at a building this morning after Russia dropped an air strike on Kyiv

Aftermath of the air strike on Kyiv

Aftermath of the air strike on Kyiv

Falling debris at buildings this morning after Russia dropped an air strike on Kyiv

Reuters witnesses said that during the air raid alerts that started soon after midnight, many people stood on their balconies, some screaming offensives directed at Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and ‘Glory to air defence’ slogans.

In the leafy Holosiivskyi district in the southwestern part of Kyiv, falling debris set a three-storey warehouse on fire, destroying about 1,000 square metres (10,800 square feet) of building structures, Mayor Klitschko said.

A fire broke out after falling drone debris hit a seven-storey non-residential building in the Solomyanskyi district west of the city. The district is a busy rail and air transport hub.

In the Pecherskyi district, a fire broke out on the roof of a nine-storey building due to falling drone debris, and in the Darnytskyi district a shop was damaged, Kyiv’s military administration officials said on Telegram.

Russia launched the attack just hours after a presidential adviser revealed the first steps of Ukraine’s highly anticipated counteroffensive against Putin‘s forces were underway.

In a cinematic video shared online by Ukrainian commanders, a narrator can be heard asking for blessings for his troops

In a cinematic video shared online by Ukrainian commanders, a narrator can be heard asking for blessings for his troops

In a cinematic video shared online by Ukrainian commanders, a narrator can be heard asking for blessings for his troops 

Silhouetted tanks with soldiers are shown getting into position ahead of the renewed attacks on Russian forces

Silhouetted tanks with soldiers are shown getting into position ahead of the renewed attacks on Russian forces

Silhouetted tanks with soldiers are shown getting into position ahead of the renewed attacks on Russian forces 

A Ukrainian soldier sits in a trench at the frontline near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region on May 26

A Ukrainian soldier sits in a trench at the frontline near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region on May 26

A Ukrainian soldier sits in a trench at the frontline near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region on May 26

Mykhailo Podolyak yesterday said the process was ‘complicated’ and that it was not ‘a matter of one day or a certain date or a certain hour’. The adviser added that the ‘intensity is increasing’ and that certain operations were already happening, including blowing up supply lines and depots. 

In an interview with The Guardian, he predicted that as the counteroffensive gains momentum there will be more incursions into Russia itself by rebel groups, imitating a recent raid in the Belgorod region

The nation’s Ministry of Defense released a new video advert yesterday that vowed to ‘kill enemies’ and reclaim their nation, as well as avenge those who have taken ‘murdered my brother and raped my sisters’.

The trailer, which called on Ukrainians to join the armed forces, promised new battalions and Western tanks to help the nation achieve its ‘sacred goal of living in freedom on its God-given land’.

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