Kiev, 31 December 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Russia has launched an attack on the northern Ukrainian city of Shostka, home to several arms factories, and destroyed several "infrastructure objects," Mayor Mykola Noha said on Facebook on Tuesday.

Twelve multi-storey apartment buildings and two educational institutions have also been damaged, Noha said, without providing any information about casualties.

The city in the Sumy region, located some 250 kilometres north-east of Kiev near the Russian border, had a pre-war population of more than 70,000.

The military administration of Kiev also reported damage caused by falling rocket debris in the eastern part of the city.

According to unconfirmed reports, several Russian missiles were fired at targets in the Kiev area near the Vasylkiv airbase. Multiple explosions were heard in the capital during the night and in the early hours of the morning, presumably from anti-aircraft fire.

According to the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, Russian forces deployed ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and combat drones.

Almost 70 Ukrainian drones were shot down in various locations over Russian territory and the annexed Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea overnight, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.

The airports in Kazan, over 700 kilometres east of Moscow, and Vladikavkaz, near the Georgian border, temporarily suspended operations for security reasons, local media reported.

On December 25, an Azerbaijani passenger plane was damaged in Russian airspace and forced to divert to Kazakhstan where it crashed, killing more than 30 people.

There are indications that the aircraft was hit by Russian air defence.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for almost three years.

MIA file photo