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Illustrative image: Ukrainian servicemen with a military mobile air defense group shoot down Russian drones using anti-aircraft guns in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on April 16, 2024. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
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Ukrainian air defense downed all 89 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia in a mass attack overnight, as well as one Kh-59 missile, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on July 31.

The main direction of the attack was Kyiv and the surrounding region, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

Nine drones were downed above Kherson Oblast, six drones were downed above Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and four drones were downed above Mykolaiv Oblast, according to the local authorities.

The Kyiv City Military Administration said that the attack was the strongest drone attack on the capital so far in 2024, with air defense forces destroying over 40 drones in the city's airspace and nearby areas. No casualties were reported.

One residential building in Kyiv Oblast caught fire after being hit by falling debris from a downed done, the State Emergency Service reported. The building was among 13 buildings damaged by falling debris in the region, the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration said.

The Air Force said that the attack was among the largest mass drone attacks launched by Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion.

The attack, which lasted over seven hours, saw drones entering Kyiv in waves from almost all directions.

Mobile fire groups, tactical aviation, army aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, and electronic warfare were involved in repelling the attack, the Air Force said. The Kh-59 missile was downed as it attempted to target Mykolaiv Oblast.  

Russia launched 90 Shahed-type drones in a mass attack last New Year's Eve, 87 of which Ukrainian air defense successfully intercepted.

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12:55 PM

Ukraine downs 161 of 287 Russian missiles, drones in mass aerial attack.

Moscow deployed four Kinzhal air-launched missiles, two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, one Kh-23 North Korean ballistic missile, 55 Kh-101 and Kh-55SM cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS bomber planes, 24 sea-launched Kalibr missiles, seven Iskander-K cruise missiles, and one Kh-59/69 missile, the Air Force said.
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