KYIV: Ukraine said Friday it repelled a night-time drone attack from Russia, a day after Moscow launched a new wave of missile strikes in the run-up to New Year celebrations.
The attacks came 10 months into President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, with Russian strikes targeting the energy grid, leaving millions in the cold in the middle of winter.
Ukraine's air force said on Friday morning that Russia's overnight assault was made with "Iranian-made kamikaze drones".
A total of 16 drones were launched from the southeastern and northern directions and they were "all" destroyed by Ukraine's air defence, it said.
The presidency said Ukraine "withstood" the new drone attacks, which targeted infrastructure. In the capital Kyiv, city authorities announced an air alert shortly after 2 am local time.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko later said seven drones had targeted the capital. Two were shot down "on approach" and five over the city.
There were no casualties, but falling debris damaged windows in two buildings in southwestern Kyiv, he added.
One of the drones hit a four-storey administrative building, starting a fire that was later extinguished, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office.
The drone attack came after a barrage of Russian missiles battered Ukraine on Thursday morning, with blasts reported across the vast country, from the northeastern city of Kharkiv to Lviv in the west near the Polish border. Ukraine's army said Russia had launched several dozen cruise missiles, the majority of which had been shot down. - AFP
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