Ukraine downs two dozen Russian drones in overnight bombardment

A Ukrainian soldier holds a bomb for a drone in a trench in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian forces (Iryna Rybakova/AP)

Ukrainian air defences downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia early on Tuesday, most of them around Kyiv, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the country’s air protection.

Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a night-time attack lasting around three hours, officials said, but Ukrainian air defences in the area shot down about two dozen of them.