Ukraine shoots down 2 missiles, 20 drones

Ukraine said yesterday that it had repelled two Russian missile and 20 drone attacks overnight, as Moscow reported downing 33 drones fired from Ukraine. “The Russian occupying forces attacked with the Iskander-K cruise missile, the Kh-59 guided air missile…, as well as 20 Shahed-type strike drones,” the Ukrainian air force said in a statement. Ukraine forces shot down the drones and the Kh-59 missile, while the “Iskander-K cruise missile did not reach its goal”, the air force said. It said the missiles were launched from Crimea and the occupied Kherson region, without saying if there were any victims or damage. Russia in turn said that it had foiled 33 drone attacks in three border regions with Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement its air defence systems “destroyed and intercepted 33 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territories of the Lipetsk, Rostov and Volgograd regions”. Drone attacks have been almost daily occurrences in Russia’s border regions, though mass attacks are less common. The capital Moscow and its outskirts have also been targets of Ukrainian drone attacks. Russia, meanwhile, bombards Ukrainian towns almost daily. Last week, it launched a massive drone attack on southern Ukraine and fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv, where about 50 people were wounded by debris.londonGBDESK//