KYIV: Ukraine said on Saturday it had downed 74 out of 75 Russian attack drones overnight, in what Kyiv said was the biggest drone attack since the start of the war.
The Ukrainian army said Russia had launched a "record number" of drones, the majority of which were downed over the capital, Kyiv, causing power cuts in the centre of the city as temperatures dipped below freezing.
The drone attack came as Ukraine marked Holodomor Remembrance Day, commemorating the 1930s starvation of millions in Ukraine under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
"The enemy launched a record number of attack drones at Ukraine! The main direction of the attack is Kyiv," the commander of Ukraine's air force, General Mykola Oleshchuk, said.
The air force said it had downed "74 out of 75" Shahed drones.
Kyiv authorities said five people were wounded in the capital, where the air raid lasted six hours.
Falling drone debris had sparked fires and damaged buildings across the city, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Kyiv residents were seen clearing smashed windows and other damage in the city's Dniprovsky district, with ambulances parked nearby.
One of the buildings that was damaged housed a nursery and another had part of its top floor destroyed.
Local resident Viktor Vasylenko said he had soothed his young daughter, who experienced "panic and nausea" during the long night-time attacks as they sheltered in a corridor.
The 38-year-old said his family always has "everything prepared" in case of such attacks but it was the first time one had hit so close.
Latvia's president, Edgars Rinkevics, on a visit to Kyiv during the attack, posted a photo of himself on social media inside a dark bomb shelter.
Dozens of buildings had their power cut off after the attacks but Ukraine's energy ministry said electricity was later restored.
Kyiv's army said that while the "main target" of the attack was Kyiv, air defence had also been called into action across southern Ukraine and a guided missile had been destroyed over the central Dnipropetrovsk region. There were power cuts across the region, authorities said.
Kyiv has warned of and prepared for a renewed Russian campaign targeting its energy grid as winter descends, fearing a repeat of events last year, when thousands were left without heat or light in freezing temperatures.
More than 21 months into Moscow's offensive, fighting is most intense in the east of Ukraine and is now centred around the city of Avdiivka, which is nearly encircled by Russian forces. — AFP
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