On August 16, 2024, during a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukrainian personnel used a searchlight to scan the skies for incoming drones.
This marked Russia’s third ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian capital in August, with preliminary reports suggesting that most missiles were intercepted before reaching their targets, according to the Kyiv military administration.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, noted that the attacks occurred at regular six-day intervals. He indicated that North Korean-made ballistic missiles were likely used.
In addition, Ukraine’s air force commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, reported that Ukrainian forces had destroyed eight Russian attack drones and five out of eight missiles launched overnight.
He detailed that various defensive units had successfully intercepted 13 aerial targets in Kyiv, Sumy, and Poltava regions.
Sunday’s missile assault involved eight missiles, including ballistic, cruise, and guided aircraft types.
Ukrainian forces managed to shoot down five of these, and the remaining three failed to hit their intended targets.
Kyiv officials reported no immediate casualties or damage in the capital, though the Kyiv region governor mentioned that two private homes were destroyed and 16 others were damaged by debris.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the attacks as deliberate terror, highlighting that Russia had launched over 40 missiles, 750 guided bombs, and 200 drones this week alone.
Following the attack, Kyiv and nearby areas were placed under new raid alerts due to further missile threats.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two-and-a-half years ago, it has occupied about 18% of Ukrainian territory in the east and south.
