Ukraine claims downing 2 Russian missiles, 56 drones in overnight airstrikes, with 1 injury

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Ukraine claimed on Sunday that its air defense shot down two Russian missiles and 56 drones during overnight airstrikes which injured one person.

According to a Ukrainian Air Force statement, Russia launched four types of missiles and 87 drones during the overnight attack, but its air defense shot down two missiles and 56 drones.

The statement said the missiles and drones were intercepted over the capital Kyiv, as well as Mykolaiv, Odesa, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Zaporizhia, Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions.

Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said on Telegram that all drones over the capital and the surrounding region were shot down, indicating that air alerts were sounded in the city three times, lasting more than five hours in total.

Meanwhile, Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said in a separate statement on Telegram that a warehouse in the region's administrative center caught fire after being hit during the airstrikes but was extinguished by firefighters.

He said one person was injured by falling debris, and a civilian cargo ship was damaged during the attack.

In a statement issued in Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have struck a fuel depot in Odesa as well as an airfield in Ukraine's Khmelnytskyi region.

Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials have yet to comment on each other's claims.