Russia Targets Kyiv with Drone Barrage as Ukraine Takes Aim at Crimea

Moscow said the Ukrainian drone attack was an effort to sabotage elections being conducted by Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed a series of Ukrainian drones targeting the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday. The same day, Ukraine reported intercepting dozens of Russian drones in the skies above Kyiv.

Voice of America – the US state media outlet – reported that Ukraine was targeted with over three dozen Russian drones on Sunday morning. It added the attack lasted two hours and caused debris to fall on the city.

Ukraine says it intercepted more than two dozen Russian drones. “Drones entered the capital in groups and from different directions. Air defense forces managed to destroy more than two dozen enemy UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles),” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated one person was injured by the attack.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported eliminating eight Ukrainian drones targeting Crimea. The attack occurred while Russia held elections, including in Moscow-annexed Ukrainian regions. Moscow described the drone strikes as an attempt to sabotage the election.

Russian officials say one drone destroyed a polling center in the Zaporizhzhia region. The strike on the building occurred before the center opened and no one was in the voting center at the time.

Ukraine has engaged in a grueling three-month-long offensive, sustaining huge losses and gaining little territory. At the same time, Kyiv has stepped up long-range attacks on Russian territory, including Crimea. Early in the war, Washington sought to avoid Ukrainian attacks on Russia out of concern of the war with Moscow spiraling too far. However, NATO has sent Urkaine long-range weapons as Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory.

Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.