Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday praised his country\u2019s air defence forces, after the capital Kyiv saw the largest drone attack since the beginning of the Russian invasion. The overnight attack killed two people and wounded three others. The latest drone attack came as Russia has intensified aerial strikes on the capital this month, and warned the West against escalating the conflict after the United States agreed to greenlight F-16 deliveries. Ukraine said the latest attack in Kyiv was \u201cthe most important\u201d of the invasion, with more than forty out of 54 drones targeting the capital. \u201cEvery time you shoot down enemy drones and missiles, lives are saved… you are heroes!\u201d Zelensky told his air defence forces on Sunday morning, also thanking rescuers. This was the 14th drone attack on the Kyiv by Russia this month. \u201cPeople are in shock. There\u2019s a lot of damage, the windows were broken, the roof was damaged,\u201d said Sergei Movchan, a 50-year-old resident whose house was damaged by debris. Kyiv had been relatively spared since the beginning of the year, but in May its residents have had to live with almost nightly air raid sirens and thundering explosions. In Kyiv, the air raid alert lasted more than five hours as the attack was carried out in several waves. Kyiv\u2019s mayor Vitali Klitschko described the assault as \u201cmassive\u201d with drones \u201carriving from several directions at once\u201d. The Kyiv military administration said that \u201cmore than 40 Russian drones were destroyed by air defence\u201d systems. Authorities reported that two killed and three others wounded as debris of the downed drones fell in several districts. Sunday was to be celebrated as Kyiv\u2019s city day, usually marked by street concerts and celebrations. \u201cToday the enemy decided to \u2018congratulate\u2019 the population on Kyiv Day with the help of their killer drones,\u201d the authorities said. \u201cKyiv, a city of free and brave people, has become a symbol of Ukraine\u2019s unbreakable spirit and the Kremlin\u2019s failed imperial ambitions,\u201d Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said. Ukraine\u2019s air force said that \u201ca record\u201d of 54 drones were launched from the regions of Briansk and Krasnodar in Russia, adding that 52 were destroyed. It said Russia used Shahed drones from Iran, and presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak to vow new sanctions against Iran. \u201cTehran has become a key ally of Moscow in this war, deliberately supplying it with weapons for attacks on civilian cities,\u201d Podolyak said. This week Zelensky had blasted Tehran\u2019s \u201csupport for evil\u201d and appealed to the Iranian people. Iran had answered by saying Zelensky\u2019s accusation was an attempt to gain the West\u2019s military and financial support. After Kyiv long asked for advanced warplanes, the United States on Friday said it would allow Kyiv to acquire F-16 fighter jets, the most sophisticated material yet supplied by the West. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday said Western nations were \u201cplaying with fire\u201d by agreeing to supply Ukraine with F-16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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