Ukraine says it downed 17 drones in overnight attack

AFP

Ukraine said on Thursday it downed 17 out of 22 Russian drones attacking its territory overnight, and that a child was killed in the country's south by artillery shelling.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General's office said a six-year-old boy was killed and four other people, including his 13-year-old brother, were wounded by Russian shelling in the village of Novodmytrivka in the Kherson region.

"Enemy shells hit a private house and its territory," it said in a statement on Telegram.

Separately, Ukraine's air force said it had shot down drones in several regions in Ukraine's south and north.

"On the night of September 14, 2023, from 9:00 pm to 2:30 am, the Russian invaders attacked Ukraine with several groups of Shahed-136/131 type (drones) from three directions," it said in a post on Telegram.

Dnipropetrovsk region governor Serhiy Lysak said three drones were over the region, damaging several buildings. Another part of the region was hit overnight by artillery and rockets, he said.

Having initially sought to pummel Ukrainian targets with missiles, Russia has this year increasingly turned to the Shahed, a cheap kamikaze drone which is more expendable and can confuse air defences with its smaller size and low speed.

More from International news

  • China welcomes Thailand-Cambodia truce ahead of trilateral talks

    China on Sunday congratulated Cambodia on reaching a ceasefire with Thailand after weeks of deadly border fighting, as officials from the three countries prepared to open a two-day meeting in southwestern China.

  • Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Florida for Ukraine peace plan talks

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump will meet in Florida on Sunday to hammer out a plan to end the war in Ukraine, but face major differences on crucial issues and provocations from Russian air attacks.

  • Myanmar votes amid civil war

    Overshadowed by civil war and doubts about the credibility of the polls, voters in Myanmar were casting their ballots in a general election starting on Sunday, the first since a military coup toppled the last civilian government in 2021.

  • At least 15 dead in Guatemala bus accident

    At least 15 people were killed and 19 injured after a passenger bus plunged into a ravine on the Inter-American Highway in western Guatemala, authorities said on Saturday.

News