Ukraine claims to have downed 67 Russian drones across 11 regions

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine claimed early Monday that it downed 67 Russian drones across 11 regions of the country, including the capital Kyiv.

A statement by Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that a total of 73 drones, as well as three different varieties of missiles, including an Iskander ballistic missile, were launched by Russia on the country overnight.

The statement said 67 of the drones and a cruise missile were downed over the Kyiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions.

Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said on Telegram the air raid alert in the capital lasted for more than five hours, and that all drones over the city were shot down.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the wreckage of a downed Russian drone was found near a residential building in the capital’s Obolonskyi district.

Kyiv Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said debris from drones that were shot down fell in six different districts of the region, and a fire broke out in a private house in one of the regions.

Meanwhile, a fire broke out at a critical infrastructure facility in the Mykolaiv region’s Bashtanskyi district, Governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

No casualties have been reported by Ukrainian authorities due to the attack, while Russian authorities have not yet commented on Ukraine’s claims.