Ukraine reports deadly Russian drone strikes into Christmas morning

(LONDON) — Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of long-range drone strikes from Wednesday night through into Thursday morning.

Russia launched 131 drones into Ukraine overnight, the air force in Kyiv said, of which 106 were shot down or suppressed. Twenty-two drones impacted across 15 locations, the air force said.

As of Thursday morning, local Ukrainian officials and the air force warned that Russian drones were still in the air.

Odesa Gov. Oleh Kiper said in a Telegram post that Russia targeted the southern region’s “port and industrial infrastructure,” damaging industrial facilities and killing at least one person. Two other people were injured, Kiper said.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) said on Telegram on Thursday that at least one person was also killed and 14 people injured by a series of Russian attacks in the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours.

The SES said that a Russian drone hit a high-rise residential building in Chernihiv, while several energy infrastructure targets in the city were also attacked.

Chernihiv Gov. Viacheslav Chaus said two people were killed by Russian drone attacks in the city. Two more people were injured, Chaus said.

Ukrenergo — Ukraine’s state-owned electricity operator — said on Telegram that Russian attacks had caused power outages in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions. All regions of Ukraine will see power consumption restriction measures enforced throughout Thursday, it added.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba wrote on Telegram, “Even during the Christmas holidays, Russia continues to launch targeted attacks on Ukrainian logistics, ports and critical infrastructure.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down at least 141 drones overnight, nine of which were destroyed over the Moscow region.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in posts to Telegram that emergency services were working at the sites of fallen debris.

In the western Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, Gov. Aleksandr Bogomaz said one person was hospitalized after being injured by shrapnel from a drone attack, with an apartment building also destroyed.

In Krasnodar Krai in southern Russia, local officials said the port of Temryuk came under attack, with two tanks holding petroleum products catching fire.

Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, said temporary flight restrictions were introduced at airports in Krasnodar and Yaroslavl during the latest attacks.

Wednesday night’s strikes followed multiple waves of Ukrainian attack drones launched into Russia on Tuesday night and throughout Wednesday, according to the Defense Ministry.

Through Wednesday, the ministry said its forces shot down at least 387 Ukrainian drones — the largest number reported by the ministry in a 24 hour period of the war to date — including more than a dozen over the Moscow region.

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