Early Saturday, Kyiv faced a wave of drone and missile strikes from Russia, causing fires, widespread debris, and injuring at least eight people, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Explosions shook the city as air defense units engaged incoming threats. Fires broke out in multiple districts including Solomyanskyi, Dniprovskyi, and Obolon, with damage to residential and non-residential buildings. Emergency services responded as smoke and flames illuminated Kyiv’s skyline.
The strikes came hours after Russia and Ukraine initiated their largest prisoner exchange since the 2022 invasion, swapping 390 soldiers and civilians in a phased agreement brokered in Istanbul. Despite the prisoner swap, experts like former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Mulroy caution that it does not signal an imminent ceasefire.
Both Russia and Ukraine increasingly rely on drones for attacks beyond front lines. Ukrainian officials emphasize advanced technology and drones as key to their survival in a war of attrition. Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, described the conflict as a “high-tech war of survival,” requiring efficient use of limited human and economic resources.
Source: Swifteradio.com
