KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Dozens of drones were shot down over Ukraine on Saturday as the country continues to face increasing long-range bombardments from invading Russian forces.
Ukraine’s air force said 67 drones were launched over the country overnight, with air defenses active in 11 regions of the country, including the capital Kiev. 58 drones were shot down, and another three were destroyed by electronic weapons systems, it said.
Debris from a drone was photographed on the street outside Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. Ukraine’s parliamentary press service confirmed that drone fragments had been found, but said there were no casualties and the parliament building was not damaged.
The bombing follows a week of increased long-range attacks in Ukraine, including a rocket attack at a Ukrainian military academy and hospital in the city of Poltava on Tuesday, killing 55 people and wounding 328.
Another one Wednesday’s attack on Lviv — a town close to the border with NATO member Poland and far from the front lines — seven people were killed, including a mother and her three daughters.
The deaths had a major impact on the city, which had been largely spared from the worst attacks, which usually target infrastructure and are taking place with greater intensity in the east of the country.
The strikes have also underscored Moscow’s long-range capabilities as Ukraine braces for what is likely to be another difficult winter as Russia continues to fight the enemy. destroy the Ukrainian electricity gridcausing approximately 70% of the generation capacity to fail and disrupting the supply of heat and water.
Meanwhile, Kiev has continued to launch its own attacks on Russia. In Russia’s border region of Voronezh, Governor Aleksandr Gusev said Saturday that a drone strike had caused a fire and the detonation of “explosive objects.”
On social media, he reported that a state of emergency had been declared for the Ostrogozhsky district of the region and that several villages had been evacuated.
He did not name the affected villages and urged his followers not to share photos or videos of fires that could be traced online.
