Ukraine updates: Kyiv hit by 'massive' Russian drone attack

Swiss President Alain Berset affirmed his country's long-term support for Ukraine after visiting Kyiv on Saturday.

"In talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Berset stressed that Switzerland stands in solidarity with Ukraine for the long haul, even in times of multiple concurrent crises," the Swiss government said.

Berset announced new aid including 10 ambulances and six fire engines to replace damaged ones.

The Swiss president, who was in Ukraine for an international food security summit, also visited Bucha where many civilians were killed in the early stages of the war and laid flowers at a memorial for the Soviet-era Holodomor.

On the 90th anniversary of the Soviet-era famine known as the Holodomor, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said it was "extremely important" to remember it as a genocide that killed millions of Ukrainians between 1932 and 1933.

"They tried to exterminate us, to subjugate us, to torture us. They failed," Zelenskyy said in a speech to mark Holodomor Remembrance Day on Saturday.

"They wanted to conceal the truth from us and hush up the terrible crimes forever. They failed. And today, with utmost sorrow and respect, we honor the memory of millions of our people." 

He and his wife, Olena Zelenska, paid their respects at a memorial to the victims of the Holodomor in central Kyiv.

Zelenskyy also linked the Holodomor, which took place under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

"This is a process where the line of totalitarian Soviet policy and the line of modern Russian policy form the equal sign together. Evil was not stopped. Was not atoned for. And now we are stopping it," he said.

Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko said in updates on social media that five people had been injured in Russian drone attacks on the capital overnight. 

He said that an 11-year-old girl was among the injured and that buildings had been damaged in several parts of the city. 

Air force chief Mykola Oleschuk said 71 of the 75 drones launched at Ukraine, mostly at Kyiv, had been downed. 

Ukraine's energy ministry also issued a statement saying that the "large-scale drone attack in the capital cut off power to an overhead line." 

"As a result, 77 residential buildings and 120 facilities in the central part of the city lost power," the ministry said, adding that work had begun to restore service. 

"Our soldiers shot down most of the drones. Unfortunately, not all," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. "But we continue to work to strengthen our air defense and shoot down more," he added. 

Swiss President Alain Berset said early on Saturday that he had arrived in Ukraine's capital.

Berset said he would be meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and attending an international summit on food security in the city. 

"The focus is on the impact of Russia's war of aggression on global food security and Switzerland's long-term support for Ukraine," Berset wrote on social media. 

Finland's foreign ministry also announced an additional €3 million (roughly $3.3 million) in support to improve food security in Ukraine in the run-up to Saturday's meeting. 

Ukraine first hosted the summit in November last year, looking to draw attention to Russia's invasion's impact on its agricultural exports. 

The event also coincides with more intense drone attacks than usual overnight in Kyiv. 

Ukraine's air force said Russia had used kamikaze drones to attack several sites around the country, particularly the capital Kyiv. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched more than 70 drones overnight, most of which were shot down. He called the attack "wilful terror," noting it came on the memorial day recalling the Holodomor famine in Soviet-ruled Ukraine in the 1930s.

The city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said on Telegram that rescue workers were trying to free two women trapped under rubble dislodged by one of the drones in a five-story residential building.

Kyiv authorities said the drone attack "was the most massive since the beginning of the full-scale invasion" in February 2022.

Klitschko also said fragments from a drone had started a fire at a children's nursery. 

Several districts of the capital were hit. Klitschko called it Russia's "most serious" drone attack on the capital to date. 

An air attack alert remained in effect for the Kyiv area for several hours starting around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. 

Ukraine's air force described the attack, which it said used Iranian-made Shahed drones, as the largest of its kind carried out by Russia. 

Russia's Justice Ministry added former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov to its register of "foreign agents."

Mikhail Kasyanov became prime minister in 2000 after Putin was elected to the presidency and served through 2004, when he was dismissed.

He became a prominent opposition figure after leaving office and attempted to run for president in 2008, but his candidacy was rejected by the national election commission.

Russia expanded a "foreign agents" law following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, doubling down on a crackdown on opposition under Putin.

Not only are figures and organizations who receive money or support from outside the country designated as foreign agents, but also those considered under "foreign influence."

The ministry said Kasyanov “took part in the creation and dissemination of messages and materials of foreign agents to an unlimited circle of people, disseminated false information about the decisions taken by public authorities of the Russian Federation and the policies pursued by them” and “opposed the special military operation in Ukraine.”

Canada and the European Union said they would "stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes" at a summit in Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel for the summit.

They said in statement they will "work to address Ukraine's immediate military and defense needs and ensure Ukraine has the long-term security commitments needed." Michel said that the EU was "ready to do more in the weeks to come."

Trudeau said Canada would donate 11,000 assault rifles to Ukraine along with nine million rounds of ammunition. 

Von der Leyen said the EU has trained 30,000 Ukrainian troops out of its goal of 40,000. She would soon disclose details on what the EU plans to do with Russian assets it seized in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Despite having launched a counteroffensive in June, Ukrainian forces have so far failed to gain ground, with the war now approaching 2024.

Since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, Canada has pledged Canadian $2.4 billion (US$1.8 billion, €1.6 billion) in military aid to Ukraine.

The announcements come as the US, Ukraine's biggest military backer by far, has been unable to pass additional funding through Congress amid political deadlock. 

msh,rm,wd/wmr (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)