Ukraine zapped or shot down a wave of drones unleashed by Vladimir Putin’s military on Kyiv.
Russia launched multiple drone strikes targeting the Ukrainian capital early on Monday.
Air defence units successfully defending the city during the attack which lasted over five hours, Ukraine’s military said.
Numerous blasts were heard over the Ukrainian capital in what sounded like air defence systems in operation and objects were seen being hit in the air.
All the drones that Russia launched at Kyiv were either destroyed by defence systems or neutralised by electronic warfare, said Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration.
According to preliminary information, there were no casualties and no damage reported, he added.
The UK has provided hundreds of counter-drone electronic warfare systems to Ukraine but it was not clear if any of them are being used to defend Kyiv.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said drone debris fell by a residential building with emergency services working on site.
The Ukrainian air force said on Monday that it shot down 67 out of 73 drones and one of three missiles launched by Russia during the attack.
Governor Ruslan Kravchenko reported no damage to critical or residential infrastructure in the region surrounding the capital. He said that the attack caused fires in five districts of the region, but there were no casualties.
Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim said the attack caused a fire at a critical infrastructure facility in the southern region.
Russia has launched multiple air attacks on Kyiv and Ukraine throughout September, targeting Ukraine’s energy, military and transport infrastructure in attacks which have killed dozens of civilians.
Britain has developed weapons to counter drones and is seeking to modernise them given the spiralling use of unmanned aircraft during conflicts.
Ukraine and Russia are unleashing waves of drone attacks, including some than can fly more than 900 miles.
Iran also launched a mass drone attack on Israel earlier this year, which failed, after the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus was targeted in an air strike which killed senior military commanders.
Drones are cheap to manufacture, in warfare terms, so one of the key attributes of defensive systems is that they must also not be costly.
The UK is developing the Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW) which beams radio waves to disrupt or damage the critical electronic components inside drones.
It has an estimated cost of 10p per radio wave shot.
Source Agencies
