The Ukrainian air defense shot down a drone of its own armed forces over the capital Kiev on Thursday. The military had lost control of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the Air Force announced in the evening. In order to avoid possible “undesirable consequences”, it was decided to shoot down the Turkish-type Bayraktar drone. “It’s a shame, but that’s the way technology works and such cases do happen,” the statement said.
“Around 8:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. CEST) a Bayraktar TB2 unmanned drone lost control during a scheduled flight in the Kyiv region…the target was destroyed,” according to the Air Force. There was probably a technical error. The Ukrainian capital had previously been rocked by several explosions.
At the time of the explosions, AFP journalists saw a drone trying to shoot down Ukrainian air defenses. The city’s military administration said air defenses were deployed over Kiev.
In Kiev and the surrounding area, an air alarm was triggered in the evening because of the drone. Video footage posted on social networks showed the drone being shot down over central Kiev. The air alert was lifted after a short time. A plume of black smoke hung over the city as the military administration said the air alert had ended.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said firefighters extinguished a fire on the ground floor of a four-storey shopping center in Solomjansky district. It burned in an area of 50 square meters. Information about victims is not available.
Kiev and the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa were only attacked by Russian drones on Thursday night. (dpa / AFP)
