Widespread air raid alerts in Ukraine; drone shot down over Kyiv

FILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian national flag flies in front of the government building in central Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

Air raid alerts blared for several hours overnight into early Sunday over roughly two-thirds of Ukraine, with officials saying that air defense systems shot down a number of drones, including one over Kyiv’s airspace.

“During the last air alert, an enemy reconnaissance UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was detected in the airspace of Kyiv,” the military administration of Kyiv said on the Telegram messaging app. “The drone was destroyed … Preliminarily, there have been no casualties or destruction.”

The alerts extended from the capital Kyiv and regions to the west of it through to all regions in the east as well as south to Kherson region and Russian-annexed Crimea. A Russian-installed official in Crimea said that Ukraine sent more than 10 drones over Crimea.

Local officials in several Ukrainian regions reported that air defense systems were deployed overnight, but there was no immediate information early on Sunday on potential casualties or damages.

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