Russian drones rain down on Kyiv as Putin heads to Belarus

Multiple explosive drones attacked Ukraine's capital before dawn Monday, local authorities reported, as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to visit ally Belarus, which provided the Kremlin's forces with a launch pad for its invasion of Ukraine almost 10 months ago. The drone attack came three days after what Ukrainian officials described as one of Russia's biggest assaults on Kyiv since the war started and as Moscow presses on with its effort to torment Ukraine from the air amid a broad battlefield stalemate. Russia launched 23 self-exploding drones over Kyiv while the city slept, but Ukrainian forces shot down 18 of them, the Kyiv city administration said on Telegram. No major casualties were reported.

Ukraine's atomic agency, Energoatom, said that one drone had flown over a part of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant.

"This is an absolutely unacceptable violation of nuclear and radiation safety," Energoatom said in a statement on social media. "We call once again to prevent nuclear facilities from being exposed to the risk of attack by the Russian army and posing a threat to the nuclear and radiation safety of Ukraine and the world." Monday was St. Nicholas Day, an occasion that marks the start of the Christmas holidays in Ukraine and is when children typically receive their first gifts hidden under pillows.