Russia launches air strike on Kyiv ahead of NATO summit

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members are gathering in Lithuania's Vilnius for a key summit on Tuesday, but hours before that, Russia launched an air strike on Kyiv.

Ukraine's military said that the air strike was launched in the early hours of Tuesday, ahead of the summit where the member nations will discuss ways to tackle security threats from Moscow.

"The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month," Serhiy Popko, a head of Kyiv's military administration, said in a post on the Telegram channel.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Kyiv said that the attack used Iranian-made Shahed explosive drones, which were launched from the south, most likely from Russia's Krasnodar region.

Popko said that Ukraine's air defence systems shot down all the Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia launched before they reached their targets. As per preliminary information, there was no damage or casualties.

Ukraine's Air Force said that air raid alerts blasted over Kyiv for an hour and longer in other parts of Ukraine's east.

According to Kyiv's interior ministry, drone wreckage had been located at an undisclosed location in the Kyiv region, but it is not specified how many drones were downed.

The ministry said "windows and outbuildings of private households were damaged" and also added that there was no immediate information on victims.

Watch: Wagner fighters neared Russian nuclear bases during mutiny

The month of May faced frequent nightly aerial raids in May which were comparatively more than at the beginning of the year. Sergiy Bratchuk of the local administration said that the western port city of Odesa was also targeted in an overnight drone strike.

Providing further details, he said that aerial defences had been activated. Air alerts were also reported in Mykolayiv, Kherson, Kirovograd, Poltava, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions.

NATO summit

As NATO leaders gather for a summit in Vilnius, they would sought to overcome divisions on Ukraine's membership bid after a deal to lift Turkey's block on Sweden joining the military alliance.

The summit will be dominated by the repercussions of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with leaders set to approve NATO's first comprehensive plans since the end of the Cold War to defend against any attack from Moscow.

According to the diplomats, the differences were narrowing over Ukraine's push for NATO membership, but NATO members agree that Kyiv cannot join during the war.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.