Relatives and brothers-in-arms of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azov Brigade hold placards at the rally in Kyiv on January 21, 2024, calling for their exchange with Russian prisoners, amid Russian invasion in Ukraine. AFP
KYIV — Kyiv said Monday that Russian forces had attacked Ukraine with eight Iranian-designed attack drones but that its air defense systems had repelled the barrage.
Officials in Kyiv have said that gaining control of the country’s airspace is a priority for this year, and urged the West to supply more air defence systems.
“The enemy attacked with eight attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) of the Shahed-136/131 type from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk region of the Russian Federation,” the air force said in a statement.
READ: Ukraine shoots down 22 out of 33 Russian drones overnight, Kyiv says
It added that the drones had been downed by defense systems in several southern and central regions of Ukraine.
There were no immediate reports of damage caused by falling debris.
The attack comes in the wake of several aerial assaults on border regions of Russia that have targeted oil storage facilities.
Sources in Ukraine’s security sector have claimed responsibility for some of those attacks to AFP, but Kyiv and the Ukrainian military have remained tight-lipped on attacks inside Russia.
On Sunday, Moscow reported another blaze at its energy infrastructure, this time at a gas terminal in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga.
Operator Novatek said the fire was caused by an “external factor,” without elaborating.