Russian forces used Iranian drones to target critical infrastructure in Kyiv on Thursday, while Russian missiles simultaneously bombarded dozens of other cities across Ukraine.
Driving the news: In the days since a blast blew up a critical bridge connecting Russia to Crimea — an incident Russia blames Ukraine for — Russia has stepped up its attacks.
- The Kyiv region was hit by "another attack by kamikaze drones on critical infrastructure facilities," Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, wrote in a Telegram post Thursday.
- Kyiv regional Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba confirmed in a Telegram post that rescuers are working at the site of the drone strikes.
- Kuleba wrote in a subsequent post that while there were no casualties or injuries, the attack sparked a fire that required 43 workers to contain.
- Ukraine has used the term “kamikaze drones” to refer to repainted Iranian Shahed-136 drones.
The big picture: Russian forces have been using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones since at least August and they were also used in the barrage of strikes Russia launched on Monday, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update on Wednesday.
- Ukraine’s Air Force wrote in a Telegram post Thursday that overnight it had shot down four Iranian drones over the Odesa region and another two over the Mykolaiv region.
- Ukraine's Armed Forces General Staff said Thursday that Russian missiles had hit 40 settlements over the past 24 hours, while Ukrainian forces carried out strikes on 25 Russian targets, Reuters reported.
- The international community has vowed to provide more air defense to Ukraine in the wake of the recent attacks.
