Russia Launches New Drone Attacks in Ukraine

Russia Launches New Drone Attacks in Ukraine

Russia has launched new drone attacks in Ukraine, striking targets in the capital Kyiv and other areas.

A series of explosions hit Kyiv on Monday, setting buildings on fire, and sending people to look for shelter.

The increase in drone attacks followed an intense wave of strikes by Russian forces last week that hit Kyiv and other cities across the country. Those attacks involved missiles and drones.

Ukrainian officials said energy centers were hit by Monday's drone attacks. A housing building was also reportedly struck, killing¹ at least three people, The Associated Press reported.

A pregnant woman was among those killed in the attack on the housing structure, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Ukraine's Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi said there had been deaths in other cities, but he did not provide a total count.

"I have never been so afraid...It is murder, it is simply murder, there are no other words for it," said 29-year-old Vitalii Dushevskiy. He lives in the building that was hit. The driver's roommate, who gave his name only as Nazar, said when they had tried to leave, they found the building's steps "all gone."

In a nearby neighborhood, 52-year-old Elena Mazur searched for her mother. She said her mother had been able to call her to say that she was buried under debris² caused by an attack. "She is not picking up the phone," Mazur said. She hoped that her mother had been rescued and was taken to a hospital.

Ukraine said the attacks were carried out by Iranian-made "suicide drones." The drones are designed to fly toward a target and then explode. Russia's defense³ ministry⁴ said it had carried out a "massive" attack on military targets and energy centers across Ukraine. Military officials said Russian forces had used "long-range air- and sea-based high-precision weapons" and that "all assigned targets" were hit.

Russian forces also struck energy equipment elsewhere. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday attacks on important infrastructure⁵ left hundreds of settlements without power in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy areas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke⁶ about the latest Russian attacks on the Telegram messaging app. "All night and all morning the enemy terrorizes the civilian⁷ population," he said. "Kamikaze drones and missiles are attacking all of Ukraine."

Zelenskyy added that the attacks would not be able to "break" Ukraine, and he promised his country would "get victory" in the end.

Andrii Yermak, head of Ukraine's presidential office, posted on social media that Iranian-made Shahed drones were used in some of the attacks.

Zelenskyy said recently Ukrainian intelligence services had estimated that Russia ordered about 2,400 of the drones from Iran. Russia is calling them Geran-2 drones, meaning "geranium" in Russian. A geranium is a flowering plant. A photo of debris from one of Monday's strikes, posted by Klitschko, showed the word Geran-2 marked on part of the exploded drone.

In the past, Iran has denied it provides weapons to Russia. But the chief of the country's Revolutionary Guard has said it does provide arms to the world's top powers, without naming nations.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the European Union to place new economic restrictions⁸ on Iran for providing drones to Russia. Kuleba said the new attacks demonstrate that Ukraine is in great need of air defense systems and ammunition⁹.

On Monday, the EU approved a military training program for thousands of Ukrainian troops in Europe. The EU also plans to provide $486 million in assistance to help buy weapons for Ukraine.

Words in This Story

drone – n. an unpiloted aircraft

debris – n. broken or torn pieces of something larger

high-precision – adj. being extremely accurate or exact

kamikaze – adj. a sudden, violent attach

infrastructure – n. the basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) needed for a country or area to operate

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。