6 Russian balloons shot down over Kyiv, air alerts sounded

Kyiv,Feb 16 :  Ukraine’s military administration on Wednesday said it shot down six Russian balloons spotted over Kyiv. The administration said the balloons may have been carrying corner reflectors and reconnaissance equipment.

It was not clear whether the balloons flew over the capital, although air alerts were sounded in Kyiv on Wednesday.

“According to information that is now being clarified, these were balloons that move in the air under the propulsion of wind,” the military administration wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“The purpose of launching the balloons was possibly to detect and exhaust our air defences.”

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Shortly before the announcement, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year, could be using balloons in a new drive to preserve its stocks of reconnaissance drones.

“Reconnaissance drones like the Orlan-10 are now being used more sparingly (by Russia), and they thought ‘Why don’t we use these balloons?’ So they are using them,” Ihnat told Ukrainian television.

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He confirmed that air raid sirens had blared in the capital on Wednesday because of balloons flying overhead.

Ihnat echoed the military administration’s suggestion that Russia could be using the balloons to distract Ukrainian air defences.

“The enemy wants us to use our air defences, which protect our strategic objects, on these balloons, which cost nothing.”

-ANI