Ukraine’s air force claims to have shot down roughly 85 per cent of the kamikaze drones launched at Kyiv and other cities in an overnight bombardment by Russia, said to have killed at least one civilian and left another trapped under rubble.
Moscow is believed to have used self-destructing drones built in Iran, a week after a similar bombardment was reported to have killed 19 people.
It came as president Volodymyr Zelensky called upon Ukrainian civilians to capture any Russian soldiers they encounter in their neighbourhoods, to use as bargaining chips for the return of captured Ukrainians.
“This is extremely important – everyone who captures the Russian military provides us with the opportunity to release our heroes,” Mr Zelensky said, adding that “we need to capture the occupiers – as many as possible”.
There was also intense fighting overnight around two towns in the Donetsk region, a day after 11 Russian soldiers were shot dead by gunmen at a military training ground in Belgorod, prompting Moscow to call for a criminal investigation.
