Ukraine claims downing 89 drones amid overnight Russian airstrikes

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine claimed on Wednesday that it downed 89 drones amid what it described as one of Russia’s largest airstrikes on the country.

Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, claimed in a statement on Telegram that Russia launched 89 attack drones and a Kh-59 cruise missile toward Ukraine’s central Kyiv region.

Oleshchuk went on to describe the attack as “one of the most massive,” further saying that Russia had used the same number of drones during a similar attack on Jan. 1.

“As then, today Ukrainian air defenses withstood and repelled a massive attack by enemy drones,” Oleshchuk also said.

Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said on Telegram that “more than three dozen drones” were downed by Ukrainian air defenses over and while approaching Kyiv.

Popko further said the attack was the seventh to have taken place this month and the largest since the start of the year on the country’s capital in terms of the number of drones used, adding that the air alert sounded in Kyiv lasted more than seven hours.

“Ukrainians can fully protect their skies from Russian strikes when they have sufficient supplies. The same level of defense is needed against Russian missiles and the occupier’s combat aircraft.

“And this can be achieved. We need sufficiently courageous decisions from our partners—enough air defense systems, enough range. And Ukrainians will do everything correctly and precisely,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X.

Russian authorities have not yet commented on Ukraine’s claims.