Russia’s drone attack hits Ukraine hard

AFP

Russia launched 40 drones overnight in a “massive” attack on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure but over half of them were downed, officials said on Friday.

“Last night there were about 40 ‘Shaheds’. More than half of them were shot down,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Russia has used hundreds of Iranian-made self-detonating Shahed drones to attack targets across Ukraine since the start of the conflict.

Zelensky said the Russian drones were launched at 10 regions including Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia on the front lines, the capital Kyiv and Lviv in the west of the country.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 24 of the drones as well as a Russian missile.

There were no reported fatalities but local officials reported damage to residential buildings in several regions, including from falling debris.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko called the attack “massive” while presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak warned Russia was “gradually increasing its air attacks on Ukraine.”

Concerns are growing that Russia will step up missile and drone strikes in an attempt to cripple Ukraine’s energy infrastructure through the winter.

“We realize that with the approach of winter, Russian terrorists will try to do more damage. We will respond to the enemy. Powerfully,” Zelensky said.

Lviv governor Maksym Kozytsky said Russian drone strikes hit five critical infrastructure sites.

Local officials also reported shelling attacks on several areas near the frontlines in Ukraine’s south and east.