(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine’s capital was the target of the most extensive Russian drone attack so far this year, lasting nearly the whole night, the municipal military administration said.
Air defense intercepted all 89 Shahed drones, which were launched overnight in two waves and directed mainly at the Kyiv region, Ukrainian Air Force Chief Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram.
Russia often uses drone attacks to test Ukraine’s air defenses and then follows them with missile barrages. So far no missiles were launched at the capital although one Kha-59 cruise missile was downed in the southern Mykolayiv region.
The barrage caused no damage in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko and the military administration said on Telegram. In the Kyiv region, debris of intercepted drones caused damage to 13 private homes, the head of the regional military administration Ruslan Kravchenko said in a Telegram post. Most of the debris fell on the ground outside residential areas.
Ukraine has suffered rolling blackouts since April after the Kremlin started another intense round of missile and drone attacks targeting the power infrastructure, starting around the New Year holiday.
The government says that the electricity shortages it expects in the coming winter will be manageable unless more damage is caused by further Russian attacks.
--With assistance from Greg Sullivan.
(Updates with details of the attack from second paragraph)
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