Ukraine shoots down 38 Russian drones, says Ukrainian Air Force

Kiev, March 6 (IANS) Ukraine shot down 38 of the 42 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement as quoted by media reports.

Russian military forces attacked with five S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles from the occupied parts of Donetsk region, while the drones were launched from the occupied Crimea, as well as Kursk region and Russia's port city of Primorsko-Akhtarsk in southern Krasnodar Krai, The Kyiv Independent reported.

Russia has been using Shahed drones supplied by Iran at targets deep inside Ukraine.

Mobile fire groups and anti-aircraft missile units of the Ukrainian Air Force repelled the attack over Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia and Sumy region.

Earlier on Tuesday night, Russian forces launched a wave of attack drones at Ukraine's northeastern Sumy, striking multiple areas of the city, according to the regional military administration, The Kyiv Independent reported.

The administration said that all injured persons were receiving medical attention, but did not provide details on the number of casualties or the extent of the damage.

Several explosions were also reported on Tuesday evening in Odesa and Khmelnytskyi.