Ukraine says repelled largest Russian drone barrage in months

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday hailed his country's air defences, which overnight shot down all 89 incoming Russian drones in one of the largest attempted attacks for months.

Russia fires drones and missiles at Ukraine on an almost nightly basis. It says it is targeting military and energy facilities, though strikes on residential areas are frequent and Kyiv accuses Moscow of directly targeting civilians.

"This is an important result," Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.


"Ukrainians can fully protect their skies from Russian strikes when they have sufficient supplies," he added.

The air force said earlier that Ukraine had "withstood and repelled a massive attack by enemy drones."

One missile was also intercepted, but Zelensky warned that Ukraine's air defence infrastructure was far from invincible.

"The same level of defence is needed against Russian missiles and the occupier's combat aircraft," he said.

Ukraine is reliant on Western air defence systems, particularly US-made Patriots, and has been calling for more deliveries.

Zelensky repeated those calls on Wednesday.

"We need sufficiently courageous decisions from our partners -- enough air defence systems, enough range," he said.

More than 40 of the drones were downed over the capital Kyiv and its outskirts, the city's military administration said on Wednesday.

There was some damage to buildings as a result of falling debris, though no casualties were reported.