Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Ukraine Downs 24 of 28 Russia-Launched Drones

by VOA News

   The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was attacked by a barrage of Russian
   drones early Friday morning, officials said, injuring at least two
   people in what marked the sixth drone attack on the city this month.

   Ukraine said it shot down 24 of the 28 Iranian-made drones Russia
   launched towards Kyiv.

   Mayor Vitali Klitschko and other officials reported strikes on separate
   residential districts.

   The mayor added that a drone hit a block of apartments in the
   Solomyanskyi district, causing a fire.

   "The upper floors are in flames. Emergency crews are on site,"
   Klitschko said.

   The apartments are just a few hundred meters from a maternity hospital,
   Reuters reports.

   Apartment buildings were also damaged in other parts of the city.

   Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there
   were indications that Russia's military planning and action were
   slowing down.

   "We will continue to support their slowdown," Zelenskyy said in his
   nightly video address.

   Also on Thursday, Russian bombs hit near two coal mines in the town of
   Toretsk in the Donetsk region, killing three and wounding at least five
   civilians, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

   Ukraine's military said earlier Thursday that Russian forces attacked
   multiple regions overnight using 35 drones.

   The Ukrainian air force said the country's air defenses shot down all
   but one of the drones, including over Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson,
   Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and other areas.

   There were no reports of casualties or damage on the ground.

   In the southern city of Nikopol, in the Dnipropetrovsk region,
   officials said Russian shelling killed two people.

   Regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on social media that an 86-year-old
   man was also taken to the hospital.

   Lysak said the Russian shelling damaged several homes and farm
   buildings.

   Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and
   Reuters.