Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday praised his country’s air defence forces after the capital Kyiv saw the largest drone attack since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

The overnight attack killed two people and wounded three others.

The latest drone attack came as Russia has intensified aerial strikes on the capital this month, and warned the West against escalating the conflict after the United States agreed to greenlight F-16 deliveries.

Ukraine said the latest attack in Kyiv was the largest of the invasion, with around forty out of more than fifty drones targeting the capital.

“Most of the destruction was averted, and most of the lives that could have been taken by these Shaheds (drones) were saved,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily evening address.

” I am grateful to each and every person who made it possible!… Thank you warriors!” he said.

This was the 14th drone attack on the Ukrainian capital by Russia this month.

“People are in shock. There’s a lot of damage, the windows were broken, the roof was damaged,” said Sergei Movchan, a 50-year-old resident whose house was damaged by debris.

Kyiv had been relatively spared since the beginning of the year, but in May its residents have had to live with almost nightly air raid sirens and thundering explosions.

The air raid alert lasted more than five hours overnight Saturday as the attack was carried out in several waves.

“Russians are intimidating us. But I think it’s the agony of their regime,” Movchan said.