‘14th & most important drone attack’ on Kyiv kills 2, injures 3

The attack “took place over several waves and the air raid alert lasted more than five hours.”

Russia carried out the "most important" drone attack on Kyiv overnight Saturday-Sunday since the start of the invasion, military authorities said.

This photograph shows a rescuer putting out a fire in a building as a result of falling debris after a massive drone attack targetting Kyiv. (AFP)

Forty of the 54 drones launched targeted the capital, killing two people and wounding three.

"In total a record number of explosive drones launched were counted: 54!" Ukraine's air force said in a Telegram post on Sunday.

"It's the most important drone attack against the capital since the start of the invasion" in February 2022, the regional military administration said on Telegram.

The attack "took place over several waves and the air raid alert lasted more than five hours!"

"According to preliminary reports more than 40 Russian drones were destroyed by air defence" systems over Kyiv, the administration added.

After the drones were destroyed, "debris fell on a seven-storey building" in the capital's Golosiivskii district, killing one person and wounding another.

A fire broke out in a warehouse zone sending flames shooting 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) into the sky and also killing one person, the administration said.

In the Solomianskii area, a 41-year-old man died and a 35-year-old woman was wounded and hospitalised, said Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko.

It was the 14th drone attack on the Ukraine capital by Russia this month, the authorities said.

The 54 attack drones were launched "from the regions of Briansk and Krasnodar" in Russia, said the air force, adding that 52 were destroyed.

Moscow was targeting "military installations and critical infrastructure in the centre of the country and in particular the Kyiv region", it said.