Ukrainian ex-PM blames air defense for cabinet building fire

Shafaq News – Kyiv / Moscow

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov suggested on Monday that the fire which broke out in Kyiv’s Cabinet of Ministers building a day earlier was likely caused by a malfunction in the country’s air defense systems.

In a post on Telegram, Azarov wrote, “It is obvious that the government building in Kyiv was hit by an air defense missile, but the Kyiv authorities, as usual, remain shyly silent about it.”

The blaze on Sunday spread across more than 1,000 square meters. Over 400 firefighters and about 100 pieces of equipment, including helicopters, were deployed to extinguish the fire.

On the military front, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its forces struck positions in Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, claiming to have killed hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, destroyed armored vehicles and artillery systems, and downed nearly 200 drones.

Ukraine’s military command said there were 77 combat clashes on September 8. It reported repelling multiple Russian assaults in Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions, adding that Ukrainian units carried out counteractions on several sectors and stopped more than 30 assaults near Pokrovsk.