Ukraine repels wave after wave of Russian drones

Ukraine’s air force said it stopped one of Russia’s largest aerial attacks of the war, shooting down 89 drones launched at Kyiv and other regions.

- JABED AHMED

The attack, which came more than two years after Russia’s invasion began, primarily targeted the Ukrainian capital and the surrounding regions. More than 40 drones were fired at Kyiv and the surrounding area, making it the most extensive such assault on the capital this year.

Military spy agency spokesperson Andriy Yusov said in televised remarks that Russia had used a “significant” number of decoy drones that were not loaded with explosives to try to deplete Ukraine’s air defences and also identify their locations.

Kyiv, which has repeatedly appealed to Western allies to supply more air defences to fight off near-daily drone and missile assaults, conceals the locations of its air defence units. The latest drone attack was the seventh conducted in the capital in July, and “one of the most massive attacks by Shahed-131/136 strike drones”, the Ukrainian airforce said.

Some 11,500 residents sheltered for safety in metro stations as the drones came in several waves from “all possible directions”. There was limited damage to civilian and critical infrastructure, but debris damaged the roofs, windows and facades of 13 private residences in the region, according to local authorities.