Ukrainian air defence downs 24 Russian drones, Kyiv says

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian air defences shot down 24 out of 52 drones launched by Russia during overnight attacks on eight regions across Ukraine, the air force said on Saturday.

It said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that 25 Shahed drones had fallen on their own and three others had flown towards Russia and Belarus. There were no reports of anybody being hurt in the attacks or of any major damage being caused.

Ukraine uses electronic warfare as well as mobile hunting groups and aircraft defences to repel frequent Russian drone and missile strikes.

Air alerts sounded several times during the overnight drone attacks, with many people rushing to shelters in the middle of the night.

In the capital Kyiv, where alerts lasted for about four hours, it was the fourth drone attack this week, officials said. All drones targeting the city were downed and no major damage was reported, Kyiv city officials said.

Ukrainian air defences also shot down Russian drones in the Poltava, Cherkasy, Kyrovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk regions in central Ukraine, in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions in the north and the Mykolayiv region in the south.

Regional officials in the Cherkasy region said the drones' debris had damaged several private houses.

The Russian forces also launched five missiles during the attack, the Ukrainian air force said, but gave no other details.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Gareth Jones)