5 hours air alert

Swarms of drones over the skies of Kiev

The drones attacked Kiev in several waves of strikes.(Bild: APA/AFP)

Swarms of Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Monday night. According to the Ukrainian military, air defense units were busy for hours fending off several waves of attacks.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia would achieve "all its goals" in Ukraine. "The truth is on our side! All the goals we have set will be achieved," Putin emphasized in a video message published on Monday to mark the second anniversary of Russia's claimed annexation of four regions in Ukraine.

Putin's speech with English subtitles:

Putin sees necessity of war of aggression as "fully confirmed"
The West had "systematically planted hatred and radical nationalism, stirred up enmity against everything Russian, supplied weapons, sent mercenaries and advisors, prepared the Ukrainian army for a new war", said Putin, who justified the necessity of the war of aggression as "fully confirmed". Six months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia declared the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson to be annexed. However, Moscow only partially controls these regions.

Numerous flying objects were shot down over Kiev on Monday night.(Bild: APA/AFP)

 Air defense in action for hours
"Several enemy drones are over and near the capital," announced Kiev's mayor Vitali Klitschko via the messaging service Telegram. Eyewitnesses reported numerous explosions in Kiev, which indicated the use of air defense systems. Objects were hit in the air. There were initially no reports of damage or casualties from the latest attacks. The night-time air raid lasted more than five hours.

Here you can see a video of the night-time drone attacks: 

There had been an air alert in Kiev, the surrounding region and the whole of eastern Ukraine since around one o'clock in the morning (local time). The Ukrainian air force had previously reported several groups of Russian drone attacks on Kiev and western Ukraine. In addition, the launch of several guided bombs from Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine was registered at around 04:40 local time, according to the military.

The government in Moscow did not initially comment on the attacks. Russia had carried out several airstrikes on Kiev and other parts of Ukraine in September, targeting the country's energy, military and transport infrastructure and killing dozens of civilians.

Damage in the Mykolaiv region due to drone attacks
In the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, an unspecified infrastructure object was set on fire by a Russian drone. The Ukrainian air force announced that 67 of 73 drones attacked across the country had been shot down. Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for more than two and a half years.