Russian Foreign Minister: The West is playing with fire. Washington and London are managing the escalation

Ukraine says it has repelled the largest drone attack since the start of the war with Russia

A drone explodes in the skies over Kiev after being shot down by the Ukrainian army. AFP

Ukraine said it repelled yesterday, the largest drone attack targeting the capital Kiev since the start of the war with Russia, and the Ukrainian Air Force said it had detected a record number of 54 explosive drones and destroyed 52 of them.

The local administration in Kiev said debris fell on a seven-storey building in the Golusievsky district after the marches were destroyed, killing one person and injuring another. A fire also broke out in an area with warehouses and spread over an area of 1000,<> square meters, injuring one person at the scene, while a man was killed and his wife injured in the Soloyansky district of the attacks.

On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that "the West is playing with fire," in response to Washington's recent announcement of its readiness to allow other countries to supply Kiev with the F-16 fighter jets it demands, denouncing an "unacceptable escalation."

Lavrov said in an interview with Russian television: "He played with fire. There is no doubt about that, Washington, London and the countries in their orbit within the European Union are managing this escalation aimed at weakening Russia."

Kiev's backers have refrained for more than a year from delivering fighter jets to the Ukrainian army for fear of escalating the conflict, but the United States gave the green light on May 19 to allow the non-stop delivery of the F-16s claimed by Kiev.

The date and number of F-16s have yet to be determined, Ukrainian pilots will undergo six-month training to learn how to control the fighters, and last week, US President Joe Biden said Zelensky had given Washington a firm assurance that the F-16s would not attack Russian territory.