Ukraine says it has shot down 14 of 15 Russian drones launched at the south of the country overnight.
“As a result of air combat, Ukraine’s Air Force and defence forces destroyed 14 shaheds in Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Khmelnytskyi regions,” the Ukrainian Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app.
The drones were launched from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov in Russia, it said.
There was no immediate comment from Russia and Reuters could not independently verify the report.
In a separate wave of attacks on Saturday, one person was killed and seven injured when Russian shelling struck the southern region of Kherson.
Kherson governor Oleksandr Prokudin said a drone attack killed a man in the town of Stanislav, while a sustained assault on a residential area left seven people hurt.
Russia also shelled a power station closer to the front lines in eastern Ukraine, injuring five workers and knocking out electricity to the town of Kurakhovo.
Russian forces abandoned positions on the western bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region a year ago, but constantly shell areas there from new positions on the eastern bank.
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Intense fighting in Ukraine’s winter
On Saturday, Ukraine’s military claimed it shot down three Russian fighter jets in the Kherson region.
Air force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat described it on national television as a “brilliantly planned operation”.
Ukrainian aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko told Ukrainian NV Radio he believed US-supplied Patriot missiles most likely downed the planes.
The news from Ukraine comes as Russia bars anti-war candidate Yekaterina Duntsova from running in the next presidential election.
The former TV journalist hoped to challenge Vladimir Putin, running on a platform to end the war with Ukraine.
Source : Sky News
