KYIV: Ukraine said on Wednesday it had shot down multiple Iranian-made drones launched at its capital by Russian troops in their latest attack on Kyiv.

Kremlin said there no would be no-let up in fighting over Christmas and the New Year while Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky urged European leaders to back a court to try Russian officials.

Explosions rang out over a central neighbourhood in Kyiv in the early hours and eyewitnesses later saw law enforcement and emergency service workers inspecting metal fragments at a snow-covered impact site.

“The terrorists started this morning with 13 Shaheds,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, referring to the Iran-made weapons.

“All 13 were shot down,” he added, urging residents to heed air raid sirens.

Kyiv has been subjected to nearly ten months of air raid sirens and frequent aerial attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and tried to capture the capital.

But the attacks have increased since October when Russia began systematically targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine in attacks that have disrupted electricity, water and heat to millions.

Ukrenergo, the national energy provider, said no energy infrastructure facilities were damaged in Wednesday’s drone attack, crediting Ukrainian air defences for their “brilliant” work.

Civilian ‘suffering’

Bridget Brink, the US ambassador in Ukraine, said on social media that Kyiv could continue to rely on Washington’s backing and that “more support is on the way”.

“It’s obvious that these attacks have just one aim: to increase the suffering of civilian population,” said Peter Stano, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2022