Russia launches largest attack on Ukraine this year, but no significant damage
Russia launched its largest attack on Ukraine this year in the early hours on May 4, resulting in loud explosions being heard in Kyiv and other cities, but no significant damage, Ukraine’s military has reported.
The attack involved drones and missiles, and lasted for over three hours.
Three Shahed 131-136 kamikaze drones managed to hit a dormitory building at a school in Odesa, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished with no reported casualties. These drones bore “sacred inscriptions” reading “For Moscow” and “For the Kremlin,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s South Operational Command, reported.
Overall, Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 18 out of 24 kamikaze drones launched by Russia, along with a reconnaissance drone. The drones were launched from the north (Russia’s Bryansk Oblast) and from the southeastern coast of the Azov Sea. Ukraine’s air defenses successfully shot down 12 of 15 drones launched towards Odesa.
At 6.20 a.m., the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported there had been a large attack on Kyiv with missiles and Iranian drones. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City State Administration, confirmed that the Russians had launched a large air strike on the capital using Shahed flying bomb drones and possibly ballistic missiles.
According to Popko, all enemy missiles and UAVs in Kyiv’s airspace had been destroyed by air defense forces, and there were no civilian casualties or significant damage to residential buildings or infrastructure.
Debris from a UAV was found in the residential areas of Shevchenkivskiy, Podilskiy and Pecherskiy districts of the capital as a result of the night air attack, but there was no damage apart from to cars and some road surfaces, Kyiv City Military Administration reported.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported several explosions in Zaporizhzhya at 2.13 a.m., while at 2.30 a.m., Kyiv Oblast Military Administration reported a threat of enemy shelling.
Overall, the attacks caused some destruction, but Ukraine’s air defense forces successfully neutralized the vast majority of drones and missiles launched by Russia, preventing significant casualties and damage to infrastructure, Ukraine’s military said.
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