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⚡️ Day 5 of constant Russian drone activity in Kyiv airspace continues – 24 hours in the Capital of Ukraine
➡️ Russia have held the Ukrainian capital under aerial siege for almost five days, launching both jet drones and conventional Geran drones towards the capital on an almost automated basis, giving residents of the capital less than 30 minutes respite between activity, and due to the length of time it now takes for jet drones to reach Kyiv, residents have to prepare to enter shelters at least 15 minutes prior to alerts.
🔹 Residents in Kyiv were also warned to get to shelter for drone alerts as well as missile alerts, as recent drones have been found to have fragmentation warheads, following a drone shot down on Sunday morning, and residents found tiny metal bearings damaging elements on the streets.
🔹 Kyiv Media noted that hundreds of these balls allows fragments to scatter for dozens of metres around the impact zone, creating a dense cloud of debris, and can easily penetrate the metal of cars, while it can be fatal for humans, as the Geran 4 jet drones become cruise missiles with a cluster warhead.
🔹 Attacks on the capital’s storage facilities around the capital and further into the Kyiv region have left Ukrainian residents panic buying and submitting multiple online orders attempting to get food delivered, but clips posted to social media appeared to show empty shelves in many stores across the country, including as far as Lviv.
🔹 Kyiv’s media was reporting that Novus and Slipo were almost empty of goods on the shelves, while supermarkets were running low on bread, potatoes, apples, oatmeal, chicken, and semi-finished products, but the biggest problem is the availability of sunflower oil.
🔹 Meanwhile, fresh drinking water supplies for the country took a hit after a Russian attack on the Kyiv region resulted in damage to the Chysta Voda bottled water company, who said that its facilities were located in the affected village of Mykola and it had no choice but to suspend production and delivery.
🔹 Flash said on Sunday that the main target for August had been Kyiv, claiming that Ukraine had been attacked by more than 2500 Shahed drones, compared to 1500 the previous month, stating that drones are being launched at Ukraine directly from factories to save transfer time to other launch sites.
🔹 Serhiy Flash also published a map of the drone routes that had been targeting Kyiv, all flying south through Chernihiv and by the reservoir, with monitoring systems reporting some more conventional Geran drones being shot down by air defences and mobile units in Chernihiv and Dnipro, while jets were flying above Kyiv attempting to intercept jet drones.
🔹 In response to the empty stores and shelves reported earlier, Flash issued an update later in the day saying there is no need to panic about the shelves in the physical stores being empty, such as supermarkets, because there was still a steady stream from food warehouses around Ukraine supplying online orders.
🔹 Flash also said that Europe would not let the Ukrainian’s go hungry and would step up to help with food and aid should it become necessary, asking residents not to pay attention to the media, claiming that the media are trying to hype up the situation for clicks.
🔹 As lunchtime approached in Kyiv, the media began to warn of an extensive afternoon of drone incursions to the airspace, advising residents to cancel Sunday walks and visits to shopping malls or hypermarkets and be close to relative safety in case of alerts.
🔹 One target of Russia’s during the afternoon was the Auchan hypermarket chain, because a strike on their large warehouse in Boryspil, near Kyiv, resulted in near destruction, while another strike appeared to be the SP Hall Business Centre, which houses international companies including Novartis, Nivea, and Watsons.
🔹 Very loud explosions were then reported towards the Left Bank of Kyiv, as well as the area near the Olympiyska metro station, and a resident building in Vity-Postova had been completely destroyed following what appeared to be a Shahed drone strike.
🔹 Kyiv media reported that two drones had been shot down by Kyiv air defences at around 4pm, but minutes later there was reports of an impact from a drone at an elite residential complex in the Pechersk district of the capital.
🔹 One resident reported to Channel 5 that a fragment from a drone had flown into the 2nd and 4th floors of an apartment building in the Obolon district, noting that he lived on the 5th floor and had narrowly avoided any incident, but urged residents its a reminder of why it is necessary to be in shelters during alerts.
🔹 An update with an accompanying video was published in relation to the ammunition dump explosion and subsequent fires in the village of Myla, stating that 194 private houses, 14 apartment buildings, social and administrative institutions, businesses and enterprises, had suffered damage.
🔹 Just before 8pm, an impact of a drone was reported in Progeny, with video footage appearing to show a café was on fire, and the media reports suggested the blaze was visibly from central Kyiv.
🔹 Due to the fact Kyiv had been under attack for 4 days at this point, Kalashnyk said the government were reviewing the alert system, stating that it was being refined based on the type of threat, while changes were also being prepared to the curfew.
🔹 Kalashnyk said that among the proposals were options that enabled the 24/7 operation of railways and stations, rapid dispersals of trains and passengers, while avoiding simultaneous arrivals of trains on adjacent platforms, in attempts to limit risks.
🔹 In a surprising twist, Kyiv had a little respite for the first time in days, as the all-clear situation was announced in Kyiv just after 1am, following what appeared to be an impact in the area of Boryspil that residents in shelters and surrounding areas could hear, which came from a very short alert and drones covering distances in times quicker than previously anticipated.
🔹 The first alert came at 5:15am, as a drone was spotted in the area of Troy, before loud explosions were heard in Boryspil and activations of air defences were reported by monitoring channels, as the drone appeared to avoid the defences and continued its path towards Brovary, constantly changing direction, until it was eventually shot down at 5:30am.
🔹 Respite for residents was short, as a jet appeared on rout to Kyiv at 5:55am, and loud explosions were again reported in Boryspil, as monitoring sites tracked the drone heading to Brovary following the route of the previous drone, and the air raid was lifted just after 6am, after a reported impact in Boryspil.
🔹 Alerts rang out in Kyiv again at 8.40am, after just 2 and a half hours since the previous incursion, as drones were spotted entering the region’s airspace, but an all clear was given at 8:45am as the drone had either been shot down or impacted, however, the alert was issued again just 20 minutes later as more drones approached Kyiv.
🔹 Footage from Kyiv media appeared to show either direct or debris impact and a large column of smoke from a fire reported at the ATB warehouses near Troieshchyna, as warnings advised residents of Kyiv to avoid infrastructure facilities, gas stations, shopping centres, and large crowds, while 20 minutes later, and Russia double-tapped the site 20 minutes later to ensure complete destruction, and air raid alerts were lifted shortly after at 9:15am.
