Flurry of attacks on Kyiv and elsewhere comes as Ukraine says it shot down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter for the first time.

Kyiv faces relentless missile and drone strikes amid widespread infrastructure damage, while Ukraine claims a historic strike on a Russian helicopter with a naval drone.

Ukraine shot down 21 Russian attack drones overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Dec. 30. According to the report, Russia launched a total of 43 drones from its Krasnodar Krai region. The Air Force said it also lost track of the 22 decoy drones that Russia launched alongside the attack ones.

Russia launched more than 40 attack drones across the Azov Sea into eastern and central Ukraine overnight, damaging houses in Kharkiv and Odessa, the Ukrainian military said.

Russia has escalated its aerial assault on Ukraine, launching more than 280 KAB guided bombs, nearly 370 attack drones, and over 80 missiles in the past week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec.