In tit for tat, Ukraine and Russia launch drone attacks

MOSCOW/KYIV — More than 10 Russian drones were downed during an overnight attack on Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said early on Wednesday, a day after Russia said it downed a wave of Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow.

"Groups of drones entered Kyiv simultaneously from several directions," said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration. "However, all air targets, more than 10 unmanned aerial vehicles, were detected and destroyed in time by the forces and means of air defense."

The attacks came one day after Russia said it downed a wave of Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow, Crimea and vessels in the Black Sea, as a skyscraper in the capital's financial district was struck for the second time in days.

"Two Ukrainian (unmanned aerial vehicles) were destroyed by air defense systems over the territory of Odintsovo and Naro-Fominsk districts of Moscow region," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Another drone was suppressed by electronic warfare and crashed on the territory of the Moscow City, the capital's high-rise business district, the ministry said.

Russian defenses downed drones in the same district on Sunday, with debris damaging two office towers.

On Monday, the Kremlin called the recent strikes on the Russian capital an "act of desperation" by Ukraine following setbacks on the battlefield.

In a separate incident, authorities in Crimea said a Ukrainian drone was shot down over the peninsula. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it also foiled a Ukrainian drone attack targeting patrol boats in the Black Sea.

Envoys summoned

In the latest development on grain imports, Poland and Ukraine on Tuesday summoned each other's envoys over an escalating row between the allies.

Polish presidential aide Marcin Przydacz said on Monday Warsaw was prioritizing "the interests of Polish farmers" when it called on the European Union to extend a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain.

Kyiv reacted by summoning Poland's ambassador to the Ukrainian foreign ministry on Tuesday.

"The statements about the alleged ingratitude of the Ukrainians ... do not reflect reality and as such are unacceptable," it said in a statement.

Poland reciprocated by summoning Ukraine's envoy, Vasyl Zvarych, to the Foreign Ministry, but later said his deputy would be hosted on Wednesday as Zvarych is in Kyiv.

Tensions between the neighbors grew as Poland opposed Ukrainian grain imports that had been triggering protests from local farmers.

Xinhua