Ukraine updates: Russia launches attack on Kyiv — military – DW – 06/12/2024

Ukrainian air defense forces say they shot down five out of six missiles and all 24 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack.

All five missiles aimed at the capital Kyiv, including a hypersonic Kinzhal missile, were shot down, according to Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk, while one Iskander ballistic missile did get through in the south of the country.

In Kyiv, air raid sirens sounded twice for a total period of two hours.

Several fires were started outside the city due to falling debris from rockets, including at an unspecified industrial location. A petrol station, several garages and one private building were said to have been damaged.

The regional governor said that one person was injured.

The US will provide Ukraine with another Patriot missile system, The New York Times and the Associated Press reported citing officials familiar with the matter.

President Joe Biden has approved the deployment of the Patriot system, the officials said, but an official announcement is yet to be made.

This would be the second Patriot system supplied by the US to Kyiv following Russia’s invasion of full-scale Ukraine in 2022.

The new system will come from Poland and could be deployed to Ukraine’s front lines in the next several days, The New York Times reported.

The Pentagon has supplied Kyiv with an undisclosed number of missiles for the system since the war began to help Kyiv fend off Russian aerial assaults.

Last month, Zelensky urged the US to send US-made Patriot systems, arguing that they will help his forces fight the close to 3,000 bombs that he said Russia launches into the country every month.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius  announced the country will send another 100 Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine in a joint effort with Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway.

The announcement on Tuesday came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a Ukraine recovery conference in Berlin.

Germany is the second-largest supporter of Ukraine behind the US and the biggest supporter in Europe.

Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said on Telegram.

Ukrainian defense systems were repelling the strikes, it added, without giving further information. Several blasts were heard in Kyiv, DW’s Emmanuelle Chaze reported.

Air raid alerts were announced across the country after midnight.

mf/rm (Reuters, AP, AFP)