The wreckage from the two drones that Kyiv did not down (Picture: Reuters)

Russia unleashed waves of air strikes on Ukraine’s capital overnight ahead of the anniversary of its founding on Sunday.

More than 50 out of the 54 Iranian-made ‘Kamikaze’ drones were downed in the airspace in what officials said was the ‘largest’ attack on the city since the start of the war.

Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko confirmed man, aged 41, had died when drone wreckage fell near a gas station, and a woman was injured.

Air Force said on Telegram that Russian forces had targeted military and critical infrastructure facilities in the central regions of Ukraine, and the Kyiv region in particular.

Kyiv Day – the anniversary of its founding 1,541 years ago – is marked by street fairs, live concerts and special museum exhibitions.

This year residents were awoken in the middle of the night by an air raid alert that lasted for more than five hours.

Plans for the event have been made this year as well, but on a much smaller scale.

‘The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians,’ Andriy Yermak, the head of president Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, said on his Telegram channel.

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At least one man was killed.