Russia launched a nighttime assault on Kyiv with a barrage of drones and both guided and ballistic missiles, Ukrainian officials reported on Monday.
The attacks occurred as children across Ukraine were preparing to return to school. Some schools had to cancel classes due to damage to infrastructure. A series of explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital in the early hours of the morning. Debris from intercepted rockets and drones injured three people and damaged two kindergartens, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. City officials reported numerous fires as a result of the attacks.
After more than 900 days of conflict, Russia and Ukraine show no signs of backing down or agreeing to negotiations.
Both sides are conducting ambitious ground offensives. Ukrainians are advancing further into Russia’s Kursk region, while the Russian military is making progress in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the Ukrainian attack on Kursk would not prevent Russian forces from advancing in eastern Ukraine. He claimed that Ukrainian forces had not achieved their goal of driving Russian troops away.
“The enemy has not fulfilled its main objective, which was to halt our offensive in Donbas,” Mr. Putin told students at a school in southern Siberia.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated last month that the goal of the incursion into Kursk is to create a neutral zone that could prevent further attacks from Moscow beyond the border.
Mr. Putin stated that the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk, which began on August 6, would fail, and as a result, officials in Kyiv “would want to move towards peace talks.”
Russia fired 35 various missiles and 26 Shahed drones into Ukraine during the night from Sunday to Monday, Ukrainian air force officials reported. Ukrainian forces announced they had intercepted 9 ballistic missiles, 13 guided missiles, and 20 drones. / VOA
