Ukraine destroyed 88 Russian drones after Vladimir Putin's army launched a major attack overnight, according to Kyiv officials.
The Air Force Command of Ukraine Armed Forces said that on Thursday night 132 unmanned drones flew from Russia into various regions in Ukraine.
On Friday morning, at around 9 a.m. local time, the Ukraine air forces reported shooting down 88 Russian drones across 10 different regions, including Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Odessa.
It added that 41 drones disappeared off the radar, and one returned to Russia.
In a Facebook post sharing the update, the Ukraine military wrote, "As a result of the Russian attack in several areas of Ukraine, infrastructure, cars, private and apartment buildings have been damaged, the victims are being helped."
Newsweek has contacted the Ukraine Ministry of Defense and Russian Ministry of Defense via email for comment.
A report from the French daily newspaper Le Monde, which cited an anonymous source close to Ukrainian military intelligence, said that Ukraine had been actively redirecting Russian explosive drones back toward Russia and Belarus by confusing their navigation systems.
Earlier this week, the Ukraine military reported Russia had sent 188 different missiles and drones to target energy facilities in Ukraine and other "critical infrastructure," such as electrical substations, according to a post shared on its Facebook account.
The Ukrainian armed forces claimed it shot down almost 90 percent of the missiles.
The military wrote on its Facebook account that, "lately, during air strikes, the enemy has been using a large number of missiles and drones."
"The enemy uses modern means of air attack, constantly refining them. It involves firing thermal and radiolocation traps, and also uses REB personal protection equipment installed directly on the rockets," the Ukraine Air Forces added.
The combat work of our air defenders against russian aerial targets.
russian terror continues, and our warriors need more air defense systems to protect the peaceful cities.
📹: Land Forces pic.twitter.com/EVeqrtujMr
The Ukrainian air force also noted that its opponent takes "into account meteorological conditions, which significantly affect the operation of mobile fire groups and fighter aviation."
"Dense fog and cloudiness observed in many regions at the time of the attack prevented the pilots and the calculations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to perform the tasks effectively," the air force wrote on its Facebook account.
The statement added that responding to such attacks requires "maximum force and resources."
According to data collected by the Ukraine military on Russian losses, Moscow has lost 2,030 troops and more than 300 pieces of weapons and military equipment in the past 24 hours alone.
This is the first time Russia has lost more than 2,000 soldiers in a day, marking its highest number of losses since the country invaded Ukraine, according to the data.
The number of Russian military personnel losses, based on the Ukraine military's data, has been increasing over the past few months, as the graph below shows.
Do you have a story Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
English (US) ·