The Kremlin’s latest missile attack on Kyiv came at the capital from multiple directions but well-positioned Ukrainian air defenses around the capital appeared to stop most if not all the Russian attack, three Kyiv Post reporters observed.
Ukraine’s army command in a 6 a.m. Tuesday statement said that local air defense forces shot down six “aero-ballistic” missiles, nine cruise missiles, three ballistic missiles, six strike drones, and three observation drones in what was, purportedly, the most complex and multi-directional Kremlin attack on a Ukrainian city since Vladimir Putin kicked off a now largely-failed campaign to bombard Ukraine’s civilian population into submission back in October.
Kyiv Post reporters from multiple locations in the Ukrainian capital were direct eyewitnesses to multiple shoot-downs, and they saw no ground explosions unconnected with a falling missile that had already been hit – consistent with official Kyiv claims that practically every missile Moscow strike planners sent against the Ukrainian capital early on Tuesday morning, failed to hit its intended target.
The Russian strike “package” included Kinzhal semi-hypersonic missiles dropped by MiG-31 interceptor jets from the airspace above west Russia, Kaliber cruise missiles fired by Russian warships in the Black Sea, and at least one Iksandr ballistic surface-to-surface missile, the Ukrainian army statement said.
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One Kyiv Post reporter in a central district of the city saw, at about 3:30 a.m. from her ninth-story apartment, a cigar-shaped missile flying horizontally some 50 meters over the top of her apartment building and heading northwards, towards the center of the capital. A few seconds later she saw an intense, yellow-white flash in the sky similar to an intercept.
The apartment building’s elevators remained functional throughout the raid. Dozens of residents, many in robes or pajamas, gathered in the building’s covered parking lot for more than a half hour, before receiving the all-clear messages by smartphone, and returning to their homes, the reporter observed.
A second Kyiv Post reporter at the top of a high-rise building in a southern district of the city saw at least six Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles launch in a rippling salvo. After several seconds of flight northwards the weapons – at a distance looking like balls of yellow-white light – disappeared into low-hanging clouds and detonated in at least six white flashes, lighting up the sky over Kyiv’s central district or the capital’s Dnipro River region.
Booms from apparently successful intercepts rolled back – there were at least five. The reporter observed at least three falling, burning objects. Red tracers from automatic cannons stationed elsewhere in the city appeared to be searching for lower-flying targets. The characteristic lawnmower-like sound of a drone was audible, but it was not clear to the Kyiv Post reporter what the ground gunners were shooting at.
Less than five minutes later the same missile battery seemed to switch targeting direction and open fire on at least two missiles approaching from the south of the city. Several seconds later, after view of missiles was lost in the clouds, the reporter saw and a few seconds later heard two explosions in the sky.
Traffic on city streets during the attacks appeared to be nil, but civilian volunteer air guards were on station on some rooftops across the neighborhood, the reporter saw.
Falling debris struck multiple locations across the city and set fires, among other civilian property, to private cars and a bus, a statement from the Kyiv region Emergency Situations Ministry said. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko published a video showing branches in a central city park torn off trees by missile parts. He blamed “Russian barbarians.”
Russian state media and Telegram channels claimed most if not all the anti-aircraft missiles fired by the Ukrainians were high-tech Patriot missiles, including the US-made late model MIM-104F Patriot PAC-3 missile. The pro-Russia information platform Stashie Eddy claimed two Russian weapons hit Patriot systems, without evidence.
According to official Ukrainian statements, all Russian weapons were shot down. Kyiv Post reporters were unable to determine what kind of missile or missiles the Ukrainian military used to hit the incoming Russian weapons. In areas of the city observed by Kyiv Post reporters, no Russian missile was seen to hit any target.
A third Kyiv Post reporter in the suburbs south of the city saw intercepts and heard explosions in the sky close by her home. From her perspective, the light flash from probable intercept covered much of the night sky, and the blast wave was powerful enough to shake her building and rattle others. The noise chased the family dog to cover underneath a bed but, outside, birds chirped and sang throughout the attacks, she observed.
Four hours later, public transport and go-to-work rush hour traffic were seen to be moving normally for a Tuesday morning.
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