Ukraine: Russian strikes thwarted but wreckage hits buildings

No casualties have been reported.

Wednesday’s attempted strikes underline how vulnerable Ukraine’s capital remains to the regular Russian attacks that have devastated infrastructure and population centres in recent weeks, mostly in the country’s east and south.

But they also highlighted Ukraine’s claims of increasing efficiency in intercepting weapons — something Patriot missiles from the US may soon help boost.

In a brief video statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the “terrorists” fired 13 Iranian-made drones and all were intercepted.

Such drones have been part of the firepower, along with rockets, missiles, shelling mortars and artillery, as Russia targets power stations, water facilities and other public utility sites.

The snow-covered capital remained largely calm after the attack, which occurred at around dawn. As the working day began, authorities sounded the all-clear.

The head of the Kyiv city administration, Serhii Popko, wrote on Telegram that the attempted strikes came in two waves. Wreckage from the intercepted drones damaged an administrative building and four residential buildings, he said.

A blast left the three-storey tax office building in the central Shevchenkyvskyi district with a gaping hole in the roof and blew out windows in parked cars and in a neighbouring building.

Clean-up crews were on site quickly to shovel away the rubble and roll out plastic sheeting to cover the blown-out windows in freezing temperatures.

One man, unfazed, pushed his son on a swing set on a nearby playground as the crews did their work.

Anton Rudikov’s family was sleeping when they heard the sounds of an explosion nearby and smashing windows.

“The children were frightened; the windows flew out,” said Mr Rudikov, who has daughters aged 13 and 18.

“What else can I say?”

Local residents told Associated Press reporters they saw fragments from a drone which contained the words “For Ryazan”.

The Kremlin claims Ukraine was responsible for an attack on a military base in the Ryazan region of western Russia last week.

Ukrainian authorities have trumpeted their ability to down Russian weapons. But strikes in some areas continue to cause deaths and havoc, particularly in areas close to the front lines in the east and south. In the southern city of Odesa, drone strikes temporarily shut off the power last week. Kyiv has suffered comparatively little damage.

During a previous round of Russian volleys on December 5, more than 60 of 70 strikes were intercepted by air defence systems, including nine out of 10 targeting the capital and the surrounding region, Ukrainian officials have said.

US officials said on Tuesday the United States was poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles.

Mr Zelensky pressed western leaders as recently as Monday to provide more advanced weapons to help his country in its war with Russia. The Patriot would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to Ukraine to help repel Russian aerial attacks since Russia invaded on February 24.

US officials also said last week that Moscow has looked to Iran to resupply the Russian military with drones and surface-to-surface missiles.

The damage caused by Russian strikes has interrupted electricity, heating and water supplies to many Ukrainians as winter sets in.

The UN migration agency said more than five million people displaced within or outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion started have returned home.

The International Organisation for Migration said a November 25 to December 5 phone survey of 2,002 respondents in Ukraine also found that only 7% were considering leaving their current locations.

The head of Mr Zelensky’s office, Andriy Yermak, said on Wednesday 64 Ukrainian soldiers and a US national living in Ukraine were released in the latest prisoner swap between Kyiv and Moscow.

In a Telegram post, he identified the “US citizen who helped our people” as Suedi Murekezi. Mr Yermak did not elaborate and what, if any, role Mr Murekezi had in Ukraine was not immediately clear.

Separately, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it has agreed with Ukraine to “establish a continuous presence of nuclear safety and security experts” at all the country’s nuclear power plants as part of efforts to prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict.

The UN nuclear watchdog has already deployed a permanent expert mission to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

The plant, Europe’s biggest nuclear power station, has faced repeated shelling and is the biggest cause of concern, although its six reactors have been shut down for some time.

There are three other nuclear plants in Ukrainian-held territory, as well as the decommissioned Chernobyl plant.