🔴 Live: ‘Almost 15’ drones downed over Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials

Issued on: 03/08/2023 – 06:05Modified: 03/08/2023 – 07:15

1 min

6:00am: ‘Almost 15’ drones downed over Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials

Almost 15 drones were downed during an overnight attack on Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said early on Thursday, in the second strike on the capital in as many days.

Air defence forces “detected and destroyed almost 15 air targets”, said Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, without specifying who launched the attack.

Early information indicated no damage or casualties, he said.

Popko said the attackers had used a barrage of Shahed drones, in an onslaught that lasted three hours.

Russia has used Iranian-made Shaheds to attack Ukraine multiple times since invading its neighbour in February 2022.

The city’s military administration had earlier issued an alert for air attacks and warned residents to stay in shelters.

Key developments from Wednesday, August 2:

Russian drones attacked port and grain storage facilities in the south of Ukraine’s coastal Odesa region in the early hours of Wednesday, including the inland port of Izmail across the Danube River from Romania, in a fresh blow to the country’s critical grain exports.

Kyiv’s military administration said the city’s air defences downed more than 10 Russian drones during an overnight attack.

Read yesterday’s liveblog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)