Air Force: Ukraine downs 17 drones, 1 missile overnight

Illustrative purposes: Air defense at work in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast in the evening of Jan. 17. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Sumy Oblast Military Administration/Telegram)

Ukrainian air defense units destroyed 17 of the 24 Shahed-type drones that Russia launched overnight, as well as one Kh-59 guided cruise missile, the Air Force reported on April 8.

The Russian attacks were launched from Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea, from neighbouring Kursk Oblast, as well as a military base in Yeysk in Russia's Krasnodar Krai region.

One of the drones damaged a logistic transport facility and a gas station in Odesa Oblast a Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper reported on Telegram.

No casualties or injuries were reported as a result of the attacks.

The drones were intercepted over Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Khmelnytskyi, and Zhytomyr oblasts, while the guided missile was shot down over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Air Force were involved in repelling the air attacks.

Drone attacks are a daily occurrence in Ukraine, affecting various regions across the country. Overnight on April 7, Ukraine’s air defense downed 17 Russian drones launched at Ukraine.

Russian forces continue to attack civilian areas far from the front line, with the recent series of intense bombardments targeting energy infrastructure in what is likely a mission to take out Ukraine's grid. Civilians living in front-line regions in the country's east and south remain, as well as close to the Russian border in the north, remain most vulnerable.

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