Ukraine downs 58 of 59 Shahed drones in largest-yet air attack; damage in Kyiv (UPDATED)

Russia once again changed its tactics of drone attacks against Ukraine, spox says Overnight on 28 May, Russia launched its largest-yet drone attack against Ukraine, Ukraine's air force said. 54 drones were launched from the north (Bryansk Oblast) and south (Krasnodar Krai) directions; 52 of these were shot down. The attack aimed at military facilities and critical infrastructure in Ukraine's central regions of the country, in particular, around the capital Kyiv. Above the Ukrainian capital, over 40 drones were destroyed in an attack that lasted over five hours, according to the Kyiv Military Administration. Falling drone wreckage killed one person and injured another. They also caused damage to the city: a shopping mall roof caught fire, and a fire erupted on the territory of an enterprise, damaging 1000 sq m of property and burning warehouses. As well, a roof of a residential building caught fire, windows and doors of a shop were broken.

Damage caused by the Russian drone attack on Kyiv on 28 May. Photos: Kyiv Military Administration

Apart from the damage caused to Kyiv, Iranian-made drones also struck an infrastructure object in Zhytomyr Oblast, the Head of the Oblast Administration said. There were no casualties. In the morning, Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the Southern Operational Command, said that the Russians used unconventional routes during the night's attack on Ukraine with Iranian-made Shahed drones. "They tried to bypass the southern air defense as much as possible, so they went through the temporarily occupied territories and then dispersed across Ukraine. This means they are trying to search for new tactics. They are gravitating to riverbeds to hide the directions of the drone's movement," said Humeniuk.

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UPDATE. The Kyiv prosecutor's office has shared photos of the damage sustained by Ukraine's capital from the Russian night drone attack, confirming that one person was killed, one injured, and four civilian objects were damaged.

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Read our last night's Twitter thread on the drone attack. Update: In its 18:00 daily bulletin, the Ukrainian Army's General Staff says Russians launched 59 Shahed-series drones last night, and Ukrainian anti-air units destroyed 58 of those:

"According to updated information, last night, the Russian Federation launched another massive strike on the territory of Ukraine, using Iranian Shahed attack UAVs, 58 of 59 of those were destroyed by our defenders," the report reads.