attacks

A raid by the armed forces from Ukraine with drones resulted in the injury of five people. Among them were three children, in the Kursk region of southern Russia, as the regional governor announced today. He clarified that the anti-aircraft defense destroyed at least 26 remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles during the night.

Several homes were damaged in the raid in the city of Suncha in the southwestern region, which borders Ukraine, acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov said via Telegram.

Mr. Smirnov said in another post that the previous day, 41 drones were destroyed and one person was injured.

Both Moscow and Kiev rarely reveal the full extent of the damage and losses suffered in attacks by the opposing side in the war. Except of course, usually cases where there are many victims among civilians or targets that are not considered of strategic importance are hit.

Kyiv has not commented on the information released by the Kursk regional governor at this stage.

The challenge

Heavy explosions were heard late Monday night in the central and eastern part of Kyiv. An airstrike alert was sounded earlier, AFP and Reuters reporters found.

The explosions were heard after 23:00 (Greece time), while the trajectories of missiles launched by the anti-aircraft defense to intercept Russians were visible on the airwaves. New explosions were heard shortly before midnight.

“Air defense systems are doing their job in Kiev. Stay in the shelters,” the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitali Klitschko, said via Telegram.

Serhii Popko, the military governor of Kyiv, assured via Telegram that, according to the first information, there were neither casualties nor damage.

Kiev has repeatedly been the target of Russian airstrikes in recent weeks.

Last Wednesday, the Russian armed forces launched 89 one-way drones against targets in Ukraine, more than 40 of which were shot down over the capital and its environs, according to Ukrainian authorities.