(Kyiv) Ukrainian forces shot down 26 Russian attack drones in the east and south of the country overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, a senior army official said.
“The enemy launched […] 28 attack drones of type “Shahed-136/131” in the night from the Russian region of Kursk and Cape Chaouda, in the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, reported the commander of the Russian army Ukrainian air, Mykola Oleshchouk, in a Telegram message published Thursday morning.
“Twenty-six” of these drones were “destroyed” in the regions of Odessa (south), Kharkiv (east), Dnipropetrovsk (east) and Zaporizhia (south), added Mr. Oleshchuk, without mentioning any injuries or injuries. damage.
Moscow also directed three Kh-22 cruise missiles, an Kh-31P anti-radar missile and an S-300 surface-to-air missile against Ukraine during the night, according to the same source which did not communicated further on this subject.
During the day on Wednesday, several Russian strikes left at least four dead and around thirty injured, notably in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, pushing Kyiv to ask its Western allies for more Patriot air defense systems.
“There is no rational justification to explain why Patriots, of which there are many in the world, still do not cover the skies of Kharkiv and other cities and towns attacked by Russian terrorists,” urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday. .
“Strengthening Ukraine’s air defense and accelerating the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine are vital missions,” he added in a message posted on social media.