Ukraine says foiled 'record' number of drone attacks on New Year's Eve

Ukraine announced on Monday that it was subjected to a "record number" of drone attacks by Russia on New Year's Eve, totaling 90 drones, with Lviv and Odesa being mainly targeted, resulting in at least one casualty.

The Ukrainian Air Forces reported the destruction of 87 out of 90 Iranian-made "Shahed" drones launched by Russian forces from four directions, confirming that the "enemy used a record number of attack drones."

They also reported Russian strikes using four S-300 surface-to-air missiles in the Kharkiv region (northeast) and three radar-jamming missiles, KH-31 and one KH-59 missile, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions (south).

In the Lviv region in the west of the country, the strikes destroyed a university and a museum linked to two Ukrainian nationalist figures that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, according to the city's mayor, Andriy Sadovyi.

In the Odesa region (south), one person was killed, and eight were injured during the night attacks, according to local authorities, while the strikes in Khmelnytskyi resulted in a child being injured.

Meanwhile, Russia reported Ukrainian shelling and drone strikes targeting the border region of Belgorod, which did not result in casualties.

The fighting between Moscow and Kyiv escalated in recent days, with an unprecedented attack leaving 24 dead on Saturday in the Russian city of Belgorod, following a missile attack on Ukraine on Friday described by Kyiv as "massive," resulting in the death of around 40 people.

AFP