Ukrainian air defenses down 18 Russian drones

Ukraine’s military said Tuesday it shot down 18 of 19 drones that Russia used in overnight attacks targeting central and western Ukraine.

Ukrainian air defense shot down the drones over the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Ternopil and Vinnytsia regions. Russia also fired two ballistic missiles from the occupied Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine’s air force said. Oleh Kiper, governor of Odesa, said on Telegram that the attack in his region lasted four hours. He reported the drone assault caused fires at three floors of an apartment building in the city of Chornomorsk, as well as a fire at an administrative building in the Odesa district. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday it shot down 14 Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region, located along the Russia-Ukraine border, as well as two drones over the Black Sea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday there is a necessity to strengthen his country’s air defenses in order to protect against Russian aerial attacks. “It is important that the great countries possessing the necessary weapons are truly great in protecting lives — not by keeping these systems in storage or warehouses, but ensuring that systems like Patriots and others are actively used to save lives,” Zelenskyy said. His comments came days ahead of a meeting of the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has coordinated repeated rounds of military aid for Ukraine since Russia invaded in early 2022.

Some information for this story was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.     .