“On the night of September 14, 2023, from 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., the Russian invaders attacked Ukraine with several groups of Shahed-136/131 type (drones) from three directions,” Ukraine’s air force said in a post on Telegram.

Having initially sought to pummel Ukrainian targets with missiles, Russia has this year increasingly turned to the Shahed, a cheap Iranian kamikaze drone which is more expendable and can confuse air defences with its smaller size and low speed.