Nato chief visits Kyiv amid major Russian drone attack

Russian forces have launched a major drone attack on 15 Ukrainian regions, causing damage to energy infrastructure, residential buildings and schools.

- JABED AHMED

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 78 out of 105 Russian drones during the assault, but the aerial attacks damaged power lines and substations’ equipment in the Kyiv, Odesa and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.

The attacks caused temporary disruption of railway services in the southern Odesa region as well as power cuts in households, Ukraine’s energy ministry said. Authorities said they had downed around 15 drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area during an air alert that lasted for more than five hours. The regions of Poltava, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad in central Ukraine reported minor damage to property.

Moscow denies targeting civilians but has regularly struck towns and cities behind the front lines. A Russian glide bomb also struck a five-storey residential building in Kharkiv, injuring at least 12 people including a three-year-old girl, local officials said. The bomb hit between the third and fourth floors of the building on Wednesday night, starting a fire, the Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.