Ukraine shot down 52 attack drones, including the Shahed type, that Russia launched against the country overnight, the Air Force reported on Dec. 22.
The Air Force added that it lost track of 44 decoy drones that Russia launched alongside the real attack drones. One drone flew away toward Belarus, according to the report.
Over the past several months, Russia has intensified its drone attacks across Ukraine, often targeting critical infrastructure to deprive civilians of power, water, and gas.
On Dec. 22, drones were shot down over 12 Ukrainian oblasts, such as Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia, the Air Force reported.
Apartment buildings and private businesses are among the sites damaged due to the Russian attacks, according to the Air Force. No casualties have been reported thus far, it added.
Russia is launching about 10 times as many Shahed-type drones against Ukraine compared to last fall, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in November. The Air Force has reported a sharp rise in Russia's drone attacks, from 2,023 drones deployed in October to 2,576 in November.
Chris York
