On the night of October 16-17, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down 26 kamikaze drones. This was stated by the speaker of the Command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat.
Around midnight Kyiv time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that air defense in southern Ukraine destroyed 11 Shahed-136s, 9 of which were shot down in one hour. From 03:30 to 07:00, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed another 15 similar drones.
“They were mainly involved in anti-aircraft missile units, but there was also the work of fighters,” Ignat emphasized. He also added that since Russia began using the Shahed-136, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have shot down 100 such drones in the south.
On the morning of October 17, Kiev was subjected to a massive attack by kamikaze drones. The mayor of the city, Vitali Klitschko, said that as a result of the attack in the Shevchenko district of Kyiv, a fire broke out in a non-residential building, several residential buildings were damaged. Information about the victims is being specified.
The Shahed-136 drones supplied to Russia by Iran are disguised as Russian-made Geran-2 drones. Iran itself denies supplying Russia with kamikaze drones for use in the war against Ukraine.