Russia just bombed Kyiv on Putin's birthday and the attacks keep getting closer together

So this isn't some one-off night for Kyiv.

The evening before, drones were already heading for the capital. An air raid alert ran for close to an hour.

And Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's President, had already warned people hours earlier. He said Russia was preparing a large-scale attack, based on fresh intelligence.

He said quote "please respond to signals of missile danger".

So he knew this was coming. And he told people so.

Now here's the pattern. Russia hit Kyiv the night before this one too. Falling drone debris damaged cars. And Russia has been going after the city's bridges for days, including the Southern Bridge and the Paton Bridge.

That makes this the third strike on Kyiv in as many nights.

And then there's the date. Putin turns 74 today.

Russia hasn't said a word about this strike. No comment on what it was aiming at. When Russia's defence ministry does comment on nights like this, it's usually hours later, and it's usually military or energy targets. None of that has come yet.

So here's what we actually have. An Air Force warning about bombers near the border. Journalists in Kyiv describing explosions and fires. And a government that already told its people this was coming, hours before it happened.

Nobody knows yet how many people are hurt. Nobody knows how bad the damage is. Nobody knows if this is one wave or the first of several.

And Russia still hasn't said anything at all.