London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Kiev attacked by 'kamikaze drones', say officials

Kiev attacked by 'kamikaze drones', say officials

Russia has hit Ukraine with a wave of attacks, including Iranian-made "kamikaze" drones on the capital, Kiev.
The strikes hit critical infrastructure in three regions, cutting off electricity in hundreds of villages across the country, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmygal.

At least seven people have died so far — four in Sumy and three in Kiev.

A week ago, the capital was hit by Russian missiles at rush hour, part of nationwide attacks which left 19 dead.

Shmygal said the new strikes had hit regions of Kiev, Dnipro and Sumy.

Russia said it had hit "all designated targets", confirming that Ukraine's "military command facilities and energy system" had been targets.

Four people were killed when an energy-generating facility was hit in Sumy, according to Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Yevhan Yenin.

"Russia is hunting for all energy-related facilities," Yenin warned. "They want to cause chaos in the energy industry."

"It shows their desperation," said Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's staff.

In the port city of Mykolaiv, sunflower oil tanks were set on fire by the suicide drones, said the city's mayor, Oleksandr Senkevich.

Senkevich said three drones ignited the tanks at Mykolaiv late on Sunday evening, hours before the attack in Kiev.

A Ukrainian air force official said since last night, 37 drones had been destroyed, which had all flown into the country from the south.

Monday morning's attacks in Kiev were from drones — the low buzzing of these slow-moving weapons is becoming familiar across the country.

The city reverberated to the rattle of gunfire as anti-aircraft batteries frantically tried to shoot them down. Video on social media appeared to show one interception.

The explosions on Monday began at about 06:30 local time (03:30 GMT). The most recent was at about 08:10 local time.

Two were close to the city center, with sirens and car alarms heard across the area.

"The enemy can attack our cities, but it won't be able to break us," said President Zelensky, describing the attacks as "terrorizing the civilian population".

Kiev's mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described the attacks as a "genocide of the Ukrainian people. The Russians need a Ukraine without Ukrainians."

Klitschko said that the city authorities were expecting soon the arrival of air defense systems to protect the capital from drone attacks.

One Reuters journalist reported seeing fragments of a drone used in the attack that bore the words, "For Belgorod".

The Russian border city of Belgorod has been hit several times since Russia invaded Ukraine. Moscow blames Kiev for the attacks.

Two gunmen — who had volunteered to fight in Ukraine — killed 11 people on Saturday at a Russian military training camp in the Belgorod region.

Writing on the Telegram social media site, Klitschko said there were four strikes in Kiev, although residents heard five or six explosions. He also told people to stay in air raid shelters.

But despite the warnings, the streets were far from deserted. Between the first and second set of strikes, plenty of people seemed to be going about their Monday morning business.

Yermak described the kamikaze attacks as Russia's "death throes" and said Ukraine needed more air defense systems "as soon as possible".

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week's strikes were in retaliation for the bombing of a key bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea, which he blamed on Ukraine.

It was the first time during the war that the center of Kiev had been directly targeted.

Earlier this week, Putin said there was no need for more large-scale strikes on Ukraine. Most designated targets had been hit, he said, adding that it was not his aim to destroy the country.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×