The launch of four Russian MiG-31K fighter jets triggered an air raid alert throughout Ukraine on Christmas Day, the Air Force warned on Telegram.

The planes, which took-off from the Savasleika airfield in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, are capable of carrying Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles that are incredibly difficult to intercept due to their high speeds.

Read also: Six Ukrainian civilians injured as Russian forces pound Kherson Oblast homes

The air alert, which lasted for nearly two hours, was canceled at 12:40 pm Kyiv time.

Earlier in the day, explosions were reported in Kherson, which is regularly shelled by Russian troops.

Twenty-eight of 31 Russian Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones, launched from Cape Chauda and Balaklava in temporarily occupied Crimea, were shot down overnight by Ukrainian air forces over Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, Kirovohrad and Khmellnytsky oblasts.

A Russian Kh-59 guided missile approaching Zaporizhzhya Oblast and a Kh-31P anti-aircraft missile launched from the Black Sea were also intercepted during the attack.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine