Latest in Ukraine: Russia Targets Kyiv with Drones, Missiles

New developments:

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will investigate U.S. allegations that a Russian ship had collected weapons from a naval base near Cape Town last year, his office said Sunday in a statement. South Africa denies the allegations which have caused a diplomatic spat among the U.S., South Africa and Russia and called into question South Africa’s non-aligned position on the conflict in Ukraine.
• Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed Sunday that senior Kremlin officials banned reporting about him on state media. The leader of the Wagner mercenary forces cautioned that such a ban would lead to a backlash from the Russian people within months. The Kremlin did not respond to his comments.
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the promise by some Western countries to provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine is an “unacceptable escalation,” and accused the West of what he called an attempt to “weaken Russia,” Russian state-controlled media reports. “It’s playing with fire,” Lavrov said, as quoted by Russia’s foreign ministry.

Ukrainian officials said Monday the country’s air defenses shot down more than 40 targets as Russia carried out a second consecutive overnight attack on Kyiv.

“Another difficult night for the capital,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. He said there were no reported injuries from the attack.

Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s military administration, said Russian forces used a combination of cruise missiles and Shahed drones to target Kyiv for the 15th time in May.

The consistent aerial attacks have come ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive that Ukrainian leaders have said will seek to reclaim territory Russia seized since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine early last year.

Ukraine’s air force said in total, air defenses shot down 29 of 35 drones and 37 of 40 missiles Russia launched overnight.

The attacks came a day after what officials called Russia’s “most massive attack” on Kyiv that involved 54 drones.

Iran sanctions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced a bill Sunday proposing 50 years of additional sanctions against Iran.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the bill was a response to what Kyiv says is Tehran’s weapons supplies to Moscow. The draft includes a complete ban on trade with Iran, on investments, and transferring technologies. If the bill becomes law, Ukraine will forbid Iranian transit across the Ukrainian territory as well as use of its airspace and freeze Iranian assets.

Kyiv and its allies say Iran has been supplying Russia with arms, including hundreds of drones, since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year. Tehran rejects the allegations.

Initially, Iran denied supplying Shahed drones to Russia but later said it had provided a small number before the conflict began.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.