Ukraine largely repels latest Russian drone attack, Zelensky says

Russia has again launched overnight drone attacks at targets across Ukraine, deploying some 70 unmanned aerial vehicles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram on Saturday.

The areas of Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Kherson, Kharkiv and Donetsk as well as the greater Kiev area were targeted in the attacks, most of which were repelled, he said.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported having shot down 72 of 76 Russian drones launched overnight, without providing details on possible damages or casualties.

Significant damage was mainly reported from the Black Sea region of Odessa.

In a suburb of the regional capital, several buildings, including a residential building, were damaged by drone debris, military governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram.

In the district of Izmail, a hub for grain shipments, storage buildings were hit.

A municipal company was hit by falling debris in Kiev, but a fire did not break out, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two and a half year, relying heavily on military aid supplied by Western partners.

The government in Kiev has repeatedly called on Western allies to increase support and send more air defence systems to protect Ukrainian cities and infrastructure against the constant Russian bombardment.