Ukraine says it has repelled massive Russian drone attack

Ukraine’s air force says it has repelled one of the largest aerial barrages launched by Russia on its territory in months.

The air force said on Wednesday that it shot down all the incoming projectiles – 89 drones and one missile – launched by Russia overnight, the attack mainly targeting the central region of Kyiv.

Kyiv’s military administration said more than 40 of the drones were downed over the capital, Kyiv, and its outskirts.

There was some damage to buildings as a result of falling debris, but no casualties were reported.

“Today Ukrainian air defence withstood and repelled a massive attack by enemy drones,” the air force said in a statement, identifying them as “Shahed-131/136 strike drones”.

Kyiv and most of central and eastern Ukraine were under air raid alerts from 20:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said the latest drone attack was the seventh conducted against the city in July.

About 11,500 residents sheltered for safety in metro stations overnight as the drones came in several waves from “all possible directions”, the city authorities said.