Ukraine Says It Defeated Russian Drone Attack on Kyiv 

People take cover inside a subway station during an air raid alert at night, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. (Reuters)
People take cover inside a subway station during an air raid alert at night, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Says It Defeated Russian Drone Attack on Kyiv 

People take cover inside a subway station during an air raid alert at night, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. (Reuters)
People take cover inside a subway station during an air raid alert at night, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. (Reuters)

Russia launched its fifth air attack this month targeting Kyiv and air defense systems destroyed all drones on approach to the capital, Ukrainian military officials said early on Wednesday.

Ukraine's Air Force said air defense systems destroyed 18 out of 19 attack drones launched at Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson and other regions of Ukraine. It was not immediately clear how many were destroyed over Kyiv.

"According to preliminary information, there were no casualties or destruction in the capital," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian air force also said that Russia attacked the Kharkiv region in the east with two surface-to-air guided missiles. There were no casualties as a result of the assault, it added.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Russia started carrying out strikes on Ukraine's energy, military and transport infrastructure in regions far from the front line in October 2022, six months after Moscow troops failed to take over Kyiv and withdrew to Ukraine's east and south.

Most of southeastern Ukraine remained under air raid alerts at 2300 GMT, with Ukraine's air force saying that the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions were under threat of Russian ballistic missile attacks.



UN Security Council to Meet Monday over Israel’s Strike on Iran

Part of the city skyline is pictured at dawn after several explosions were heard in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (AFP)
Part of the city skyline is pictured at dawn after several explosions were heard in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (AFP)
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UN Security Council to Meet Monday over Israel’s Strike on Iran

Part of the city skyline is pictured at dawn after several explosions were heard in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (AFP)
Part of the city skyline is pictured at dawn after several explosions were heard in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (AFP)

The United Nations Security Council will meet on Monday to discuss Israel's attack on Iran, council president Switzerland said on Sunday.

The Swiss UN mission said the meeting had been requested by Iran with the support of Algeria, China and Russia.

"Israeli regime's actions constitute a grave threat to international peace and security and further destabilize an already fragile region," Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a letter to the 15-member council on Saturday.

"Iran, in alignment with the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and under international law, reserves its inherent right to legal and legitimate response to these criminal attacks at the appropriate time," he wrote.

Scores of Israeli jets completed three waves of strikes before dawn on Saturday against missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran, Israel's military said.

It was retaliation for Iran's Oct. 1 attack on Israel with about 200 ballistic missiles, and Israel warned its heavily armed arch-foe not to hit back after the latest strike.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon rejected Iran's complaint at the United Nations, saying in a statement on Sunday that Iran was "trying to act against us in the diplomatic arena with the ridiculous claim that Israel has violated international law."

"As we have stated time and time again, we have the right and duty to defend ourselves and will use all the means at our disposal to protect the citizens of Israel," Danon said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed "to all parties to cease all military actions, including in Gaza and Lebanon, exert maximum efforts to prevent an all-out regional war and return to the path of diplomacy," his spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.