Russia has unleashed another massive drone and missile attack wave on Ukraine's capital, just on the eve of the major annual NATO summit, which is in Ankara, Turkey this week.
Over a dozen people were killed, with heavy damage against residential structures observed. The death toll could rise, but "In total, 14 people have died and 117 have been injured in Kyiv," the office of the attorney general said on Monday morning. Rescue crews have been retrieving bodies from under rubble throughout Monday.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it used long-range weapons and drones to carry out a "massive" attack on Kiev and other cities, saying that military bases and energy facilities were successfully struck.
According to details of the timing of the attack wave:
The Kyiv Independent reported that the first explosions were heard at about 1:40am local time, followed by more strikes at 2:10am and 3:15am.
Thousands of residents fled to underground shelters, it reported, as air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine. At least 15 buildings were damaged in Kyiv in the strikes, including four in the capital’s historic Podilskyi district, Tkachenko said.
As for the significant numbers of projectiles focused on the Ukrainian capital alone, another source reports:
Ukraine's air force said Russia used 68 missiles, including 23 ballistic and six super and hypersonic missiles, as well as 351 drones in the attack. Air force units shot down or neutralized 37 missiles and 326 drones, but none of the ballistic missiles or super and hypersonic missiles, the air force data showed.
Neighboring Poland briefly scrambled fighter jets as a preventive measure.
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But Ukraine has been launching its own significant drone salvos against Russia, with devastating effect against its energy infrastructure.
In its second large-scale attack in under a week, drones were sent against an oil terminal and port in St. Petersburg, with damage being observed in the Baltic Sea ports of Vysotsk and Ust-Luga. More attacks also impacted Sevastopol on the Black Sea, resulting in a power blackout there.
According to some further details in CBNC being reported:
Ukrainian officials reported that forces struck a major oil terminal in Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, as well as the Kronstadt Naval Base, the main base of the Russian Baltic Fleet, on Friday and Saturday. The attacks reportedly caused fires at both the oil terminal and the military facility.
Further Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure were reported on Monday morning. Ukraine’s military said via Telegram that it had struck oil refineries in Russia’s Yaroslavl and Leningrad regions overnight. CNBC couldn’t independently verify the report.
It was only on Saturday that President Trump said he had a "business-like and constructive" nearly 90-minute phone call with his Russian counterpart Putin.
The prospect of renewed US mediation efforts to find peace in the Ukraine conflict was discussed, and Trump was even (once again) invited to visit Russia for an in-person summit.
While the prospect of renewed talks and diplomatic effort was raised, the two warring sides seem further from dialogue than ever, and the Zelensky government is finally sensing that it has found a 'weak point' - hammering Russian energy and creating a national fuel shortage crisis.