Explosions heard in Ukrainian capital, emergency teams deployed
Al JazeeraAir-raid sirens heard in the capital in the pre-dawn hours with residents urged to take shelter. Russia “started this morning with 13 Shaheds… all 13 were shot down by our Ukrainian air defence systems,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address on social media, referring to the kamikaze drones that Moscow has been accused of deploying against Ukraine targets. Good morning!” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said the attack was deliberately timed for when it was dark to make it harder to shoot the drones down, but that Ukrainian air defence systems had been effective. Parts of a drone seen at the site of a destroyed building had an inscription reading “For Ryazan.” Moscow earlier this month accused Kyiv of using drones to hit two air bases at Ryazan and Saratov, in south-central Russia, killing three servicemen and wounding four. The blasts came as Ukraine calls on its allies to provide it with more advanced air defence systems to help it shoot down Russian missiles and drones that have devastated the country’s energy infrastructure and left millions without heating in the bitter cold of winter.