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On the picture: Police officers stand next to a destroyed car at the site of a damaged residential building following a missile strike in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine, 13 December 2023 EPA/OLEG PETRASYUK
Russia reported Thursday that its air defense systems had shot down nine Ukrainian drones on route to the capital, just hours before President Vladimir Putin's highly anticipated press conference. The purported strike occurred only hours before Putin's first end-of-year speech since initiating the Ukraine operation in February 2022, and a day after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv injured scores.
At least 53 people were injured during the early hours of 13 December as a result of missile debris falling in several districts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv after air defense systems intercepted incoming Russian ballistic targets, Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said. Ukraine`s air defense forces reported they intercepted 10 `kamikaze` drones and 10 ballistic missiles launched by Russia overnight.
In retaliation, the Ukrainian command has sent drones to the Russian capital.
"On-duty air defense units destroyed and intercepted nine Ukrainian UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) over the territory of the Kaluga and Moscow regions," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, blaming the strike on Kyiv.
One of the drones was shot down near Naro-Fominsk, a town southwest of Moscow, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin."According to preliminary data, there was no damage or casualties at the site where the debris fell," Sobyanin said on Telegram. He said that emergency services were on the scene.
Ukraine has been launching frequent drone assaults on Russia since the summer when it started a new campaign to reclaim territory lost to Moscow. /BGNES
