Russia launched a massive drone attack that killed at least three people, although it was largely repelled by Ukrainian air defenses, the military said on March 22, as heavy fighting continued in the east for control of the devastated city of Bakhmut.

An air-raid alert that lasted for several hours was declared around midnight in Kyiv and a number of regions.

The Kyiv city military administration said three people were killed and seven were wounded in the overnight attack in the Kyiv region.

As a result of a nighttime attack by drones in the Kyiv region, a civilian object was damaged. So far, we know of three people dead and seven wounded. The information is being clarified," the administration said on Telegram.

"On the night of March 22, the enemy launched another massive air strike with [Iranian-made] Shakhed-136 drones," Ukraine's military General Staff said in its daily report.

"According to preliminary information, 16 out of 21 drones launched by the enemy were destroyed by our defenders," it said, adding that the threat of air strikes remained high across the country.

In the northern Zhytomyr region, a drone attack damaged an infrastructure facility, the head of the regional military administration Vitaliy Bunechko said on Telegram.

"Three enemy drones were shot down by air-defense units," Bunechko said, adding that there were no casualties.

An explosion was reported in the western Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskiy during the alert, but local authorities later said no drone flights had been detected above the region.

In the east, Ukrainian forces repelled 114 attacks over the past 24 hours, with focus on Bakhmut, where Russian forces have been attempting to advance toward the center of city, the General Staff reported.

Bakhmut, now largely reduced to rubble, has been the epicenter of months of intense fighting that has prompted heavy losses to both sides despite analysts saying the city carries little strategic value. [RFE/JS]