Ukraine claims to have shot down 20 Iranian-built Shahed drones during mass attack by Russia

Ukrainian forces shot down 20 drones that Russia launched in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian Air Force has reported.

"Fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft missile forces of the air force, mobile fire groups of the defence forces of Ukraine and electronic warfare units were involved in repelling the air attack," air force commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk said on Telegram.

The Russian UAVs were Iranian-built Shahed-131/136 drones that had been launched from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Kursk regions in Russia.

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The Shahed-136 is a loitering munition, a type better known as a "suicide drone". Such drones are relatively low-cost and typically use a propeller-based propulsion system.

Shahed drones are difficult to target from either the ground or the air due to their small size. 

The drones were shot down over the regions of Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa and Mykolaiv.

According to Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, the attack damaged five buildings, including one belonging to the district administration.

Russia has been on the offensive towards Kharkiv, causing Ukrainian military officials to pull back their troops from several villages in the border region.