Russian 'kamikazee' drones strike Ukranian residential houses, families killed including an expectant mother

Kyiv, the capital and most populous city of Ukraine, was under attack on Monday. The office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces have been using "kamikaze drones" to bomb residential areas.

The drones were termed "kamikaze" or "suicide drones" because the attacks would destroy the drone once it was in the target position of the bombing. This is unlike other drones, which are flown back to their starting point after dropping the missiles. These drones are believed to be Iranian-made and have been rebranded by Russia as Geran-2 drones. The drones pack quite an explosive charge and can "linger over targets before nosediving into them."

The Independent reports that a young couple expecting their first child was among those killed when the drones struck a residential apartment building. Four other people died, while 18 people were injured and rescued from a collapsed apartment building.

The city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said, "Everything that is happening [here] is terrorism." Ukraine's prime minister said that some of the drones were set off at an energy facility. The US embassy in Kyiv called the attacks "desperate and reprehensible." Austria has also said the strikes represent an "escalation."

While Iran has previously denied allegations of their government providing Russia with weapons, their Revolutionary Guard chief has boasted that they are currently providing arms to the world's top powers. Iran has since repeated its denial on Monday.

Kyiv is the seventh-most populous city in Europe. It appears that Vladimir Putin is using this as leverage over Russia's growing frustration over the bombing of the only bridge that connected Crimea to the Russian mainland.

EU foreign ministers have since agreed to set up a mission to train around 15,000 Ukrainian troops starting next month and to provide an extra €500m (£432m) worth of funding for the delivery of arms to Kyiv.