Russia has launched a record number of drones in one night against Ukraine, Kyiv’s military says. Meanwhile, NATO leaders are meeting to discuss Russia’s “test” use of a hypersonic ballistic missile.
Ukraine’s air force says Russia launched a record 188 drones against the country on Tuesday, amid growing international tensions over Russian missile threats.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have been escalating their drone and missile attacks, with Ukraine recently firing US long-range missiles at Russia. The Kremlin responded to that by launching an experimental hypersonic missile last week.
“During the night attack, the enemy launched a record number of Shahed strike unmanned aerial vehicles and unidentified drones,” the air force said, referring to Iranian-designed drones and putting the overall number fired at 188.
Ukraine’s air force says it shot down 76 Russian drones in 17 regions, while another 95 were either lost from their radars or downed by electronic jamming defensive systems.
The air force did not specify what happened to the remainder. It added that Moscow had also launched four Iskander-M ballistic missiles.
“Unfortunately, critical infrastructure facilities were hit, private and apartment buildings were damaged in several regions,” a statement said.
