Russia Launches its Largest Drone Attack on Kyiv Since Ukraine Invasion

Russia launched its largest drone strike on Kyiv since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year, according to the city’s mayor. Explosions startled residents up before dawn on Saturday, and the booms of Kyiv’s air defenses rang around the city for more than six hours.

Wave after wave of strikes came from the north and east. According to officials, more than 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired toward the Kyiv, with all but one being shot down.

With Russia’s missile inventories diminishing, Shahed drones are considered as a low-cost alternative. They travel at a slower speed than ballistic missiles and have a characteristic wingspan.

The whines of their engines mixed with the booms of the city’s air defenses that night. Even if a missile or drone is intercepted, falling debris can be deadly.

This attack resulted in no reported deaths, but at least five people were hurt, including an 11-year-old child, Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko told Reuters. Among the structures damaged was a kindergarten.

Kyiv Fears Further Drone Strikes

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy further noted that the incident occurred during commemorations of the famine, which is recognized by Ukraine and over 30 other countries as a genocide committed by the Soviet Union, which dominated Ukraine at the time and wanted to suppress its aspirations for independence.

“Wilful terror…. The Russian leadership is proud of the fact that it can kill,” he said on Telegram. Moscow claims that the hunger fatalities were not the result of a premeditated genocidal policy and that Russians and other ethnic groups suffered as well.

The precise aim of Saturday’s attack was not immediately obvious, but Ukraine has warned in recent weeks that Russia will launch another aerial campaign to destroy Ukraine’s electricity grid, as it attempted last winter.

According to Ukraine’s energy ministry, the attack knocked out power to roughly 200 buildings in Kiev, including 77 residential complexes.

“It appears that we heard the overture tonight.” “The prelude to the winter season,” said Serhiy Fursa, a well-known Ukrainian economist, on Facebook.

Putin says Russia never refused peace talks with Ukraine, blames Kyiv

Meanwhile, in an unprecedented action, Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded the leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) on November 22 that it was critical to devise a strategy to end “the tragedy” of Ukraine’s war.

He also accused Ukraine for leaving the discussions, claiming that “Moscow never refused peace talks” with Kyiv.

“Of course, military actions are always tragic for individuals, families, and the nation as a whole.” “Of course, we must consider how to avert this tragedy,” Putin stated in his virtual address to the G20.

“By the way, Russia has never refused to engage in peace talks with Ukraine.” It is Ukraine, not Russia, that has openly announced its withdrawal from the talks process. Furthermore, the head of state signed an order forbidding such conversations with Russia,” he said.

He then emphasized that the current global economic crisis necessitated collective, consensual decisions that reflected the views of the vast majority of the worldwide community.

“Now the situation in the global economy and in the world as a whole requires collective, consensus decisions that reflect the opinions of the overwhelming majority of the international community–both developed and developing countries,” the president remarked.

“The world is undergoing radical transformation.” New and powerful global economic development centers are forming and strengthening. “A significant portion of global investment, trade, and consumption activity is shifting to the Asian, African, and Latin American regions, which contain the majority of the world’s population,” he noted.

Putin stated that the world economy was suffering as a “direct result of some states’ ill-conceived macroeconomic policies.”

“Market volatility is increasing. Chronic issues in the international banking sector, energy, and food security are becoming more severe. Russia, by the way, fulfills all of its duties in this regard and remains one of the world’s largest food exporters. And today, I am pleased to inform you that the first ships carrying free Russian grain have been dispatched to Africa, for example, to countries in need,” he stated.