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.



Iran Says it Will 'Use All Available Tools' to Respond to Israel's Attack

A screengrab shows an Israeli Air Force plane, which the Israeli army says is departing to carry out strikes on Iran, from a handout video released on October 26, 2024. Israel Army/Handout via REUTERS
A screengrab shows an Israeli Air Force plane, which the Israeli army says is departing to carry out strikes on Iran, from a handout video released on October 26, 2024. Israel Army/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran Says it Will 'Use All Available Tools' to Respond to Israel's Attack

A screengrab shows an Israeli Air Force plane, which the Israeli army says is departing to carry out strikes on Iran, from a handout video released on October 26, 2024. Israel Army/Handout via REUTERS
A screengrab shows an Israeli Air Force plane, which the Israeli army says is departing to carry out strikes on Iran, from a handout video released on October 26, 2024. Israel Army/Handout via REUTERS

Tehran will "use all available tools" to respond to Israel's weekend attack on military targets in Iran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.
Iran previously played down Israel's air attack on Saturday, saying it caused only limited damage, while US President Joe Biden called for a halt to escalation that has raised fears of an all-out conflagration in the Middle East.
Speaking at a weekly televised news conference, Baghaei said: "(Iran) will use all available tools to deliver a definite and effective response to the Zionist regime (Israel)".
The nature of Iran's response depends on the nature of the Israeli attack, Baghaei added, without elaborating.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that Iranian officials should determine how best to demonstrate Iran's power to Israel, adding that the Israeli attack should "neither be downplayed nor exaggerated".
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.
The heavily armed arch-enemies have engaged in a cycle of retaliatory moves against each other for months, with Saturday's strike coming after an Iranian missile barrage on Oct. 1, much of which Israel said was downed by its air defenses.
Iran backs Hezbollah, which is engaged in heavy fighting with Israeli forces in Lebanon, and also the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is battling Israel in the Gaza Strip.