Over 60 Russian drones attack Ukraine's south overnight, more than 50 downed

The Russians launched more than 60 Shahed attack drones at Ukraine’s south on the night of 31 December-1 January, and air defence units managed to destroy more than 50 of them.

Source: Nataliia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Operational Command Pivden (South), on air during the 24/7 national joint newscast

Quote: "More than 60 drones were observed flying in our area of responsibility, over 50 of which were destroyed"

Details: She added that the aftermath of the attack is still being summed up and the final data will be available later.

Humeniuk said the attack began at 23:30. One of the port infrastructure facilities in Odesa Oblast was hit. A fire broke out, but it was quickly extinguished. No people were injured.

She said that the air defence systems operated in the south for almost 11 hours during the night. The drones were shot down in Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Vinnytsia oblasts. Most of the drones were shot down in Odesa Oblast – about 30 of them.

Humeniuk explained that even a downed Shahed drone remains very dangerous. When it falls, it creates a powerful blast wave that destroys facilities around it.

Background:

• On the evening of 31 December, several dozen Russian attack drones were spotted in Ukrainian airspace. During the night, several of them flew to the west of the country to Lviv.
• Explosions were heard overnight in Odesa and Dnipro. In Odesa, a high-rise building caught fire, killing one person. There were also strikes in Mykolaiv Oblast.

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