KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 3, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Russia launched 40 drones overnight in
a "massive" attack on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure but over half of
them were downed, officials said on Friday.

"Last night there were about 40 'Shaheds'. More than half of them were shot
down," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Russia has used hundreds of Iranian-made self-detonating Shahed drones to
attack targets across Ukraine since the start of the conflict.

Zelensky said the Russian drones were launched at 10 regions including
Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia on the front lines, the capital Kyiv and Lviv in the
west of the country.

Ukraine's air force said it shot down 24 of the drones as well as a Russian
missile.

There were no reported fatalities but local officials reported damage to
residential buildings in several regions, including from falling debris.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko called the attack "massive" while
presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak warned Russia was "gradually
increasing its air attacks on Ukraine."

Concerns are growing that Russia will step up missile and drone strikes in an
attempt to cripple Ukraine's energy infrastructure through the winter.

"We realise that with the approach of winter, Russian terrorists will try to
do more damage. We will respond to the enemy. Powerfully," Zelensky said.

Lviv governor Maksym Kozytsky said Russian drone strikes hit five critical
infrastructure sites.

Local officials also reported shelling attacks on several areas near the
frontlines in Ukraine's south and east.

Russia's defence ministry said overnight it shot down two Ukrainian drones
over its Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

Separately, Ukraine said a 29-year-old man injured in an October 21 missile
strike on a postal depot in the Kharkiv region had died, taking the death
toll from the strike to eight.