Kyiv hit by Russian drone attack as capital marks its birthday

Issued on: 28/05/2023 – 08:12

6:55am: Russia thwarts drone attack on Krasnodar oil refinery, officials say

Russia‘s air defence systems destroyed several drones as they approached the Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region near the Black Sea, local officials said on Sunday.

“Several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) tried to approach the territory of the Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar Krai,” the region’s emergency officials said on the Telegram messaging channel.

“All of them were neutralised, the infrastructure of the plant was not damaged.

3:43am: More than 40 Russia-launched drones downed in Kyiv’s airspace, officials say

More than 40 drones launched by Russia overnight were downed in Kyiv‘s airspace, the capital’s military administration officials said on Sunday on its Telegram messaging channel.

3:34am: ‘Massive’ Russian drone attack kills one in Kyiv

One civilian has died in Kyiv after a “massive” drone attack on the Ukrainian capital, the city’s mayor Vitaly Klitschko said Sunday.

“A 35-year-old woman was hospitalised, a 41-year-old man died,” the mayor and former boxer said on Telegram, reporting that drone wreckage had crashed near a petrol station.

He said Kyiv’s air defences had shot down “more than 20 drones” headed for the city, and implored city residents: “Stay in shelters. The attack is massive!”

A fire also broke out at a company premises in the Holosiivskyi district, he added

1:02am: Putin orders stronger Russian border security

President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered stronger border security to ensure “fast” Russian military and civilian movement into Ukrainian regions now under Moscow control.

Speaking in a congratulatory message to the border service, a branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), on their Border Guard Day holiday, Putin said their task was to “reliably cover” the lines in the vicinity of the combat zone.

Attacks inside Russia have been growing in intensity in recent weeks, chiefly with drone strikes on regions along the border but increasingly also deep into the country, including on an oil pipeline northwest of Moscow on Saturday.

Key developments from Saturday, May 28:

• Hundreds of German civil servants working in the education and cultural sectors will need to leave Russia following a request by Moscow, a German government source told AFP Saturday.
• Shelling in Russian regions bordering Ukraine killed two people on Saturday, regional authorities said. The regional governor of Belgorod said there were fresh attacks, a day after dozens of strikes.

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)