Ukraine air defence shot down Iran-made 13 kamikaze drones targeting Kyiv, claims Zelensky

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the country's air defence systems had shot down 13 Iranian-made kamikaze drones that targeted the capital Kyiv earlier in the day.

Russia "started this morning with 13 Shaheds... all 13 were shot down by our Ukrainian air defence systems," Zelensky said in a video address on social media. Moscow has been accused of deploying Iranian-made suicide drones against Ukraine targets.

Earlier, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko hadsaidthat explosions were heard in a central neighbourhood of the capital city on Wednesday morning.

"Explosions in the Shevchenkivsky district of the capital. (Emergency) services are on their way," Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

He has said that air defence shot down 10 Iranian-made "Shahed drones" over Kyiv and the nearby region.

Two administrative buildings are also reported to have been damaged in the attack.

The governor of Zhytomyr, an area nearKyiv, warned of the possibility of a second wave of drone attacks.

In a message posted on Telegram, Vitaliy Bunechko said, "Air danger continues. A second wave of drone attacks is possible. Stay in shelters."

MP Oleksiy Goncharenko informed that three explosions are believed to have struck Kyiv this morning. Emergency services were dispatched to the affected areas.

(With inputs from agencies)

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