Air defense repels mass drone attack against Kyiv

Explosions were reported overnight on Feb. 23 in Russia’s Belgorod, where officials said a large-scale missile strike caused significant damage to local infrastructure, as reports also emerged of attacks targeting energy and oil infrastructure elsewhere in Russia.

A woman has been arrested in connection to a suspected terrorist attack that killed a police officer and injured 25 others in the Western city of Lviv in the early hours of Sunday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.

Russia launched 126 drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 105 drones.

The Kyiv Independent’s separate analytical unit, KI Insights, is excited to announce the launch of its podcast, Ukraine Insights — a show dedicated to unpacking Ukraine’s politics, security, economy, and international relations through in-depth, expert-driven conversations.

The documentary has received wide acclaim for the fact that it shows how the war against Ukraine is not just "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war" but a war sustained by both a climate of fear and open support among the populace within Russia.

The number includes 720 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 23 in an interview with the BBC that Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively already triggered World War Three, warning that only sustained military and economic pressure can prevent further escalation.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces hit an oil depot in occupied Luhansk and destroyed two Russian Tor air defense systems, valued at over $50 million, in occupied Donetsk Oblast, the military said.

The arms deal was signed in Moscow in December, and requires Russia to send Iran 500 "Verba" Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS) launch units and 2,500 9M336 surface-to-air missiles over three years, the Financial Times reported.

Several rounds of explosions were reported in Kyiv overnight on Feb. 22, leaving a mother and her child injured as Russia launched ballistic missiles at Ukraine.

Twenty drones were shot down en route to Moscow during the afternoon of Feb. 22, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed.

The factory, located in Trostianets in Sumy Oblast, was struck by a missile, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said. The plant has operated since the 1990s, and produces a range of well-known products, including Oreo and Milka.

Hungary said it would block the EU's new sanctions package against Russia over halted oil deliveries through Ukraine, the latest development in a deepening spat between Ukraine and its neighbors, Slovakia and Hungary, over Russian oil imports.

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur examines how global support for Ukraine has shifted four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion.