Ukraine says it downs drones over Kyiv, debris sets shop ablaze

(Reuters) -Ukrainian authorities said air defences shot down Russian drones near Kyiv on Monday and falling debris set a non-residential site ablaze, but no casualties were found.

Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said Russia had launched 12 drones towards Kyiv but Ukraine’s air defence forces had identified and destroyed “all enemy targets” in the airspace around the capital.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in its daily morning update that Russia launched a total of 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight on Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces destroying 14 of them.

Drone wreckage fell in the western Kyiv district of Sviatoshyno, sparking a fire across a 200-square-metre (2100 sq foot) area in a non-residential building, he added.

“According to preliminary data there are no casualties at this time,” Popko said in a Telegram post, though he added the information was being clarified.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that a shop was set ablaze in Sviatoshyno but no casualties were found and the fire was contained.

Air raid alerts were declared across half the country’s regions but the all clear was given for Kyiv after explosions rang out in the city.

(Reporting by Elaine Monaghan, Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Sandra Maler, Stephen Coates and Sonali Paul)