Several hurt in Kyiv after Russia attacks Ukraine with 89 drones

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that Russian forces launched 89 drones in a wave of overnight attacks that left three people injured in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, said on Telegram that falling debris from a destroyed drone damaged a building.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 36 of the 89 drones, the country’s military said.

In addition to Kyiv, intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, and Zhytomyr regions.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it shot down 25 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and Russia-occupied Crimea.

That followed another 22 drones that Russian air defenses shot down overnight, the ministry said.

Most of the drones were shot down in areas along the Russia-Ukraine border, including over the Rostov, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk and Bryansk regions.

There were no reports of major damage from the Ukrainian attacks.

“The only effective way to protect ourselves from this is to eliminate Russian weapons and Russian launchers directly on Russian territory,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Tuesday.

“That is why the ability to strike Russian territory is so important to us. This is the only factor that can limit Russian terror and Russia's capacity to wage war in general,” he added.

Countries that have given Ukraine weapons to fight Russia have been reluctant to give Ukraine permission to launch those weapons directly into Russia, but Zelenskyy said he is “grateful to all the partners who understand this and convey it to other partners.”

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters