The Ukrainian military said on Monday that it had shot down 17 Russian drones and a Russian missile that were involved in nighttime attacks on various regions of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Air Force stated that Russia dispatched a total of 24 drones to carry out attacks. The air force said the 17 drones were destroyed in the Odessa, Nikolayev, Kirovolad, Khmelnytsky and Zhytomyr regions.
Odessa regional governor Ole Kiper said four drones were destroyed in the southern region, but the attack damaged a logistics and transport facility and a gas station.
Kiper said there were no reports of injuries.
Russia’s latest air strikes came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the need for allies to show “political will” to provide Ukraine with air defense systems.
“It is clear that the air defense capabilities available to us in Ukraine are not enough, and it is also obvious to all our partners,” Zelensky said in a night speech. “The world must finally hear the Russian terrorists’ attack on Hal Suffering caused by the city of Kove, Kupinsk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Sumy region and many other Ukrainian communities.”
nuclear power plant attack
Kiev has denied Russian claims that Ukraine was behind Sunday’s drone attack on the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant that injured three people.
“Ukraine is not involved in any form of armed provocation against the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant illegally occupied by Russia,” Andrei Yusov, spokesman for the General Intelligence Service of Ukraine, told Ukrainian journalists.
“Russian attacks on Ukrainian nuclear power plants, including copycat attacks… have long been a well-known criminal act by intruders,” he said on the messaging app Telegram.
Russia blames Ukraine for attacks on multiple sites at the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Sunday, including the dome of an idle reactor, injuring three workers. Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Russia’s state-owned nuclear agency Rosatom called the series of attacks on the plant “unprecedented.”
Nuclear power plant officials notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the attack, said X, an official at the United Nations nuclear watchdog. The plant fell under Russian control shortly after the war in Ukraine broke out in 2022.
“ZNPP has informed IAEA experts that a drone exploded at the site today. This explosion is consistent with IAEA observations,” the agency posted on X.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said nuclear security had not been compromised, but International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi warned both sides that an attack on the plant could ultimately “endanger nuclear security.”
The facility is located near a war zone, and Ukraine and Russia have often accused each other of attacking the plant and risking a possible nuclear disaster.
Information for this report was provided in part by Reuters, The Associated Press and AFP.
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