kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — Loud explosions rang out over kyiv early Tuesday as a heavy Russian airstrike on the Ukrainian capital combined with drones, cruise missiles and possible ballistic missiles.
The new attack on Kiev was “exceptional in its density, the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time,” said Serhii Popko, head of kyiv’s Military Administration.
It was the eighth Russian airstrike this month on the capital, a clear escalation after weeks of calm and ahead of a long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive. It also came as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrapped up a whirlwind European tour to visit Ukraine’s main allies, in which he garnered a fresh round of promises of military aid.
“According to preliminary information, the overwhelming majority of enemy targets in Kiev airspace were detected and destroyed,” Popko said, without giving an exact number of missiles shot down.
Debris fell in various districts of the capital. In the Solomyansky district, debris started a fire in a non-residential building. The fire was extinguished.
Other debris set cars on fire and fell on zoo grounds, though no losses were reported, according to kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.