(Reuters) – Russia launched drone attacks overnight on Kyiv and southern Ukraine, injuring at least one civilian and damaging a gas pipeline and residential buildings in the river and sea port of Mykolaiv, Ukraine’s military said on Sunday.
Ukraine’s Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that its air defence systems destroyed 40 out of 45 Russia-launched Shahed attack drones overnight.
“The air alert in the capital lasted almost two hours,” Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram.
He added that over Kyiv all the drones were downed on their approach. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties nor destruction in or near the capital. Skies over Kyiv were declared clear soon before 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).
Ukraine’s southern military command said on Telegram that its air defence systems were engaged for more than five hours and destroyed 26 Russia-launched Shahed drones over several southern regions, chiefly over the Mykolaiv region near the Black Sea.
At least one civilian was injured in the southern Ukraine attack, the military said.
“The priority for the enemy was again the coastal strip of infrastructure and agro-industrial facilities,” the military said.
Falling debris from a downed drone and the blast wave damaged residential buildings and a gas pipeline in Mykolaiv, the military command said.
Four drones downed over the Black Sea port of Odesa, the military said.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports. Both Russia and Ukraine have increased their air attacks away from the frontline in recent months, targeting each other’s critical energy, military and transport infrastructure.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William Mallard and Sonali Paul)