Ukraine says 17 of 24 Russian drones destroyed overnight

Ukraine's armed forces said Wednesday they had destroyed 17 out of 24 Russian drones launched overnight, while an oil refinery was hit, according to a regional governor.

During the night, Russia "attacked Ukraine with 24 kamikaze drones of the Shahed-136/131 type, 17 of which were destroyed by Ukrainian air defence," the General Staff said in a daily update.

Information regarding the consequences of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks was still being clarified, it added.

In the central Poltava region, an oil refinery was struck, according to the regional governor Dmytro Lunin.

"Tonight the Russians repeatedly attacked Poltava region. Our anti-aircraft defence worked well against enemy anti-aircraft missiles," he said on Telegram.

"Unfortunately, there is a hit at the oil refinery in Kremenchuk. A fire started. All relevant services are on site. The work of the plant is temporarily suspended."

He said that so far, there were no known casualties.

Sergiy Lysak, governor of the east-central Dnipropetrovsk region, said the Nikopol district had come under attack for a second consecutive night, with Russian forces firing at Nikopol city and three other communities.

"Five private houses, two cars and power lines were damaged," he said, with no injuries according to initial reports.

The Ukrainian armed forces "shot down two enemy UAVs over the area, turning them into scrap metal," he said.

The General Staff update said that on Tuesday, Russia had attacked Ukraine with 31 Iranian-made Shahed drones, of which 28 were destroyed.