RUSSIA LAUNCHES DOZENS OF DRONES INTO UKRAINE IN LATEST AIR RAID: KYIV

Russia launched 36 drone attacks overnight on Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s air force, in Moscow’s latest air raid targeting the country.

Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Tuesday that its defence systems had destroyed 27 of the drones.

The attacks using Iran-made Shahed drones targeted the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions of Ukraine, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.

Moscow launched a total of 36 Iranian-made drones from the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, it added.

The air force did not say which targets, if any, the nine other drones may have hit.

The governor of Mykolaiv, Vitaliy Kim, said on Telegram that one of the drones had been destroyed over his region.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Moscow steps up attacks

Separately, Kherson region’s administration said on its Telegram channel that four people had been injured and several buildings damaged in 79 instances of shelling using mortars, artillery and drones.

Russia has stepped up attacks on ports in southern Ukraine since exiting a deal that allowed safe passage for grain shipments through the Black Sea in July.

Kyiv has also warned that Moscow is restarting a campaign of aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, mirroring attacks that last year left millions without heating and water for long periods.

In September, Moscow launched more than 500 Shahed drones – a monthly record, according to Ukrainian consultancy group Defense Express.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after annexing the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.