Russia launches massive missile, drone attack on Kyiv as it ramps up airborne offensive

Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Russia launched a massive combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region Wednesday, the third on the country in three days, but Ukrainian air defenses intercepted most of the airborne ordnance with only one injury reported.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post that Russian missiles -- including ballistic and cruise missiles targeting Kyiv -- were shot down, along with about a dozen of about 90 drones involved in the attacks.

"In total, around 90 strike drones attacked Ukraine," said Zelensky, who used the aerial attacks to push home his argument that Western partners meeting their commitments to Ukraine on defense assistance and ensuring shipments were on time were a matter of life and death.

"It is crucial that our forces have the necessary means to defend the country from Russian terror. I am grateful to each of our partners who help us. Timely delivery of interceptor missiles for our air defense, fulfilling agreements on defense systems, and electronic warfare production and supply are, without exaggeration, lifesaving effort," wrote Zelensky.

"Every successful interception by our air defense saves lives and protects critical infrastructure. And the more successful our warriors are, the closer we move toward ending this war. This is how peace through strength is achieved."

Kyiv authorities said Wednesday's two-hour-long attack, the first in more than two months, began with air-raid sirens sounding at around 6:30 a.m. local time as drones bore down on Kyiv Oblast and then cruise missiles, followed by a ballistic missile strike on Kyiv itself timed to coincide with the arrival of the cruise missiles.

Ukrainska Pravda quoted, Ruslan Kravchenko, the head of the region's military administration as saying a 48-year-old man was in a moderate condition after sustaining head contusions from falling debris from downed Russian targets.

Falling wreckage also set ablaze a warehouse but firefighters were able to contain it, preventing it from spreading to adjacent infrastructure.

On Monday, five people were killed and one injured in the southern city of Mykolaiv, about 35 miles northwest of the frontline, in a Russian drone attack.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service said the attack drones destroyed a house and seriously damaged a four-story apartment building with blazes breaking out on the upper levels.

That came the day after Russia unleashed a record 145 drones Sunday -- the largest attack of the war -- against targets all across Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which claimed to have shot most of them down.

At least two people were injured after a drone hit the southwestern port city of Odessa. Footage circulating online showed buildings ablaze and the aftermath of damage to other structures.

UAF said it downed 62 drones, which it said were Iranian-supplied, 67 were "lost" and 10 departed Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Russia, Belarus and Moldova.

Ukraine also unleashed an aerial assault of its own Sunday, flying scores of drones over six Russian regions, some of which forced flight diversions at three of Moscow's main airports as drones bore down on the capital, injuring five people and setting houses ablaze southeast of the capital, according to Russia's defense ministry.

It claimed to have intercepted 84 of the drones, mostly over Ramenskoye, Kolomna and Domodedovo districts in the Moscow region.