Explosions boomed in the skies over Kyiv early Thursday morning, as Russian forces launched an aerial assault on the Ukrainian capital, killing at least one person, just hours after the NATO summit in Lithuania concluded.
It was the third night in a row that Kyiv was targeted by Iranian-made attack drones. Air raid sirens wailed around 12:15 am Thursday, and blasts echoed over the city center about an hour later.
Kyiv’s military administration called the attack “massive” and said air defenses had shot down about a dozen drones coming into the capital from different directions. It was not immediately clear if any drones had evaded air defenses.
Authorities said falling debris from the interceptions had caused casualties, destruction and at least one fire. A dead body was found as firefighters tried to put out a blaze at a residential building, according to the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. Two people were wounded, and buildings in several districts of the city sustained damage, he added.
Images shared on social media by Kyiv’s military administration early Thursday showed a gaping hole in a building, with a mangled kitchen inside.
Ukraine’s complex air defense network has become increasingly adept at intercepting Russian attacks. But even when Ukraine manages to shoot down drones or missiles, falling debris can bring death and destruction.
The attack came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was en route back to Ukraine from the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Over the course of the two-day meeting, the leaders of NATO’s 31 member nations projected unity in their support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s 16-month invasion. They promised new military support and made the strongest pledges yet that Kyiv would become a member of the military alliance — though they provided no clarity on when and how exactly it would happen. While in Vilnius, Zelenskyy also met one-on-one with President Joe Biden, a meeting that he described as “very good.”
Seeking to move past a dispute over when his country would be invited to join the alliance, Zelenskyy stressed his gratitude for NATO’s military assistance — and appeared determined to portray the trip as a success back in Ukraine.
“We are returning home with a good result for our country and, very importantly, for our warriors,” he said in a video posted to Twitter during the air raid alert. “We have put to rest any doubts and ambiguities about whether Ukraine will be in NATO. It will!”