Ukraine shot down 12 Shahed drones out of the 15 launched by Russia overnight, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on March 9.
Ukrainian air defense downed the drones over Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Poltava Oblasts.
Explosions were heard in the suburbs of Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, according to Ukrainian media Suspilne.
Air alerts sounded across eastern, southern, and central Ukraine at 9.18 p.m., includuing Kyiv shortly before 10 p.m.
A Russian strike earlier on March 8 injured a seven-year-old boy in Kherson. An aerial bomb landed on his home causing "an explosion injury and contusion."
Four people were also injured in Donetsk Oblast on March 8, according to the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office. Russian shelling on the village of Pivdenne injured a 23-year-old man, while two people were injured in the city of Siversk after a drone hit a civilian car.
A 68-year-old woman was also injured in the village of Berdychi after a Russian attack.
During the early hours of March 9, Russia claimed that Ukrainian drones attacked the Russian regions of Kursk and Rostov, allegedly injuring one person and damaging the roof of a medical clinic.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
In recent months, Russian authorities began reporting an increasing number of drone strikes targeting Belgorod, Bryansk, Oryol, and Leningrad oblasts, as well as other regions.
Dominic Culverwell
