Ukraine claims it downed 26 drones in latest Russian strikes

Ukraine destroyed 26 drones overnight as Russia launched its latest round of aerial attacks, according to a senior Ukrainian military official.

"On Thursday (March 28), the Russian army launched a missile air strike against Ukraine using three Kh-22 cruise missiles and an Kh-31P anti-radar missile from the Black Sea, an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile Donetsk and 28 attack UAVs of the 'Shahed-136/131' type", Mykola Oleshchuk, the head of Ukraine's air force, wrote on Telegram on Thursday.

"Twenty-six attack UAVs of the 'Shahed-136/131' type were destroyed within Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions", the official further said.

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More than 1 million energy consumers across Ukraine were without power after overnight Russian airstrikes on energy facilities, a top presidential official said).

The strikes had affected around 700,000 residents in the eastern Kharkiv region, at least 200,000 each in the southern Odesa and southeastern Dnipropetrovsk regions and another 110,000 in the central Poltava region, said Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy head of the presidential administration.

Russia frequently targets Ukraine with airstrikes during the night and in the recent weeks, the attacks have intensified. The targets include power plants and other vital infrastructure, as payback for deadly shelling of Russia's border regions.

Three persons were killed by Russian strikes in eastern and southern Ukraine on Wednesday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Ukraine's allies to speed up deliveries of warplanes and air defence systems to bolster Kyiv's air defences.

It may be noted here, Ukraine early on Sunday (Mar 24) launched attacks on the annexed Crimean peninsula and said that it "successfully hit" two Russian large landing ships of the Black Sea Fleet, a communications centre and several infrastructure facilities.

The Ukrainian military in its statement did not specify the medium it chose to hit the targets, however, a Moscow-installed official in the region reported a major Ukrainian air attack and stated that the air defences had downed more than 10 missiles over the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

"The defence forces of Ukraine successfully hit the Azov and Yamal large landing ships, a communications centre and also several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in temporarily occupied Crimea," Ukraine's military said.

Russia launches aerial assault on Ukraine

Russia on Sunday (Mar 24) launched an aerial assault on Ukraine's capital Kyiv and the western region of Lviv, reported news agency AFP citing officials.

"Explosions in the capital. Air defence is working. Do not leave shelters," Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram immediately after the attack. Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said Stryi district, south of the city of Lviv, was also under attack.

Watch: Russia-Ukraine war: Zelensky decries 'Russian terror' in Kharkiv

The assault comes as Russia mourns the tragic terrorist attack on the Moscow concert hall and blames Ukraine for it.

Ukraine's air defence forces claim they destroyed about a dozen Russia-launched missiles, said Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, on Telegram. Preliminary information showed no casualties or major damage as a result of the attacks, he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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