Ukraine shoots down its own drone that 'lost control' over Kyiv

Hours after a series ofexplosions shook the capital, the Ukrainian Air Force said it downed its own drone as it lost control over Kyiv on Thursday, reported AFP.

"At about 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) a Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial device lost control during a scheduled flight in the Kyiv region...the target was destroyed!" said the air force, as quoted by AFP.

It cited "likely" technical malfunction as the cause of the drone losing control.

Another drone shot down near Crimea

Meanwhile, in a further escalation to the drone war between Russia and Ukraine, another aerial device was shot down near the Russian airbase in Moscow-annexed Crimea, said the Russia-installed authorities on Thursday.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

This is the latest drone attack in a series of similar incidents in recent days. "Another attack on Sevastopol. At about 7:00 pm (1600 GMT), air defence forces destroyed an unmanned aerial device in the area of the Belbek airfield," said Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev on Telegram.

Meanwhile, as per media reports, May 9 Victory Day celebrations have been cancelledin at least 21 Russian cities.

ALSO READ | Ukraine will not join NATO during war, Zelensky says after meeting European leaders

Explosions and air raid alerts in Kyiv

According to AFP, several explosions were heard in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraineon Thursday after it witnessed a series of attacks overnight.

An AFP journalist reported seeing a drone that the air defence attempted to shoot down, as the Kyiv city military administration stated that "air defence is at work."

The explosions ended after around 15 to 20 minutes. AFP journalists reported that they saw a cloud of black smoke rising in the air just after an announcement was made by the Kyiv city military administration stating that the air raid alert was over.

As per Reuters, one witness saw a drone falling in an area near the bank of the Dnipro River and Dynamo soccer stadium, outside the city centre.

An alert was issued by the local authorities for both Kyiv and the surrounding area and anti-aircraft units went into operation.

"The enemy drone was shot down," presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported "explosions and fire in the Solomyansky district of the capital" and further gave warning of potential drone debris.

WATCH | Did Ukraine try to assassinate Russian President Putin?

The alerts were issued after Kyiv witnessed another wave of attacks in the night falling between Wednesday and Thursday.

Kyiv military administration's head Sergiy Popko on Thursday morning said, "Our city has not experienced such intensity of strikes since the beginning of this year."

Then, Popko said that it was Russia's third day of strikes on the capital city in May.

The explosions took place a day after two drones were shot down by Kremlin over the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which they alleged was an assassination attempt carried out by Ukraine on the directions of the United States.

The allegations were refuted by both Ukraine and the US, as they claimed that they had no involvement in the said attack.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

You cannow write for wionews.comand be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with ushere.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE