Ukraine's air force chief, Mykola Oleshchiuk, announced on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had successfully neutralized 25 out of 38 Russian attack drones launched overnight. Oleshchiuk detailed that the enemy deployed 38 Shahed-131/136 drones targeting various areas of Ukrainian infrastructure, including the south of Odesa region and central Ukraine. He also mentioned that three drones were unaccounted for after they crossed into Romanian territory, without providing further specifics.
Romania's defense ministry corroborated this, stating they had discovered fragments of a Russian Geran 1/2 drone near Plauru, situated across the Danube from Ukraine's Izmail port. The search for additional fragments continued, with the ministry assuring that all impacted areas were devoid of residential zones and no infrastructure was harmed.
In the Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper reported that two individuals were injured when drone debris struck a private residence in the Izmail district. Meanwhile, Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions also faced drone attacks. Zhytomyr's governor confirmed that air defense systems intercepted most of the 10 aerial targets, though drone debris caused damage to 10 private homes and one public facility. Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, affirmed that all incoming drones were thwarted by air defense forces, with no damage or casualties reported in Kyiv.
In a separate incident, a man was killed in Kherson when a drone dropped explosives on him. Despite Ukrainian forces reclaiming much of Kherson in late 2022 post-Russian invasion, Russian forces continue to shell Ukrainian-held areas from the eastern Dnipro River bank and launch drones.
In response, two Finnish F-18 fighter jets, part of NATO's air policing missions, were deployed to monitor the situation. Romania, a NATO member, shares a 650-km border with Ukraine and has frequently encountered stray Russian drone fragments over the past year.
