Ukraine claims it downed 14 Russian drones over Odesa region

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) — Ukraine on Sunday claimed that it downed 14 out of 16 drones launched by Russia over the country's southwestern Odesa region.

A statement by Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia also launched five S-300 guided anti-aircraft missiles toward the country’s eastern Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, as well as two Kh-59 guided air missiles toward the northern Chernihiv region.

The statement did not specify the outcome of these attacks.

The downing of the drones comes as a missile strike on the city of Odesa on Friday killed at least 21 people and injured over 70 others.

During an evening address on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there would "definitely be a military response" by Ukraine to Russia.

"These weeks have demonstrated to many that the Russian war machine has vulnerabilities that we can reach with our weapons," he added.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it struck "temporary deployment areas of Luth and Tsunami nationalist formations" near Odesa.