Ukraine shoots down 32 of 35 Russian-launched exploding drones

Ukrainian forces downed 32 out of 35 Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones launched by Russian forces Tuesday morning as the ongoing war between the two countries continues. 

Officials claimed Russian forces were targeting the Kyiv region in their latest attack, noting air defenses shot down more than two dozen drones from Russia’s attack. 

Russia’s attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extends to the western part of the country, where the Lviv region is located, officials alleged. Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi said the Russian drone strike hit a critical infrastructure facility, which started a fire. 

Yuriy Ihnat, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson, said the drones were able to reach the region due to the inability of the country’s air defenses to cover the area. Ihnat noted that Ukraine’s air defense systems were used mostly to protect major cities, key infrastructure facilities and its front lines. 

“There is a general lack of air defense assets to cover a country like Ukraine with a dome-like Israel has,” he said, making reference to Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defense system.

Russia also launched a ballistic missile attack, which hit the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia. The head of Zaporizhzhia’s Military Administration Yuriy Malashko said Russia targeted telecommunication infrastructure and agriculture and farming properties in its attack, according to Reuters. 

The latest attack comes after Ukraine launched its counteroffensive approach earlier this month, more than a year into its war with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC News in an interview that his country’s counteroffensive push is “generally positive” but “difficult” to pull off, noting his country still has a hard task to force out Russian forces out of occupied areas.

The Associated Press contributed.