Russia launched a swarm of Iranian-made explosive drones at Kyiv on Wednesday, the second such assault on Ukraine in a few days, ending a three-week lull in attacks with waves of drones, writes The New York Times.

Ukrainian officials and military experts have said the pause in using drones - even as Russians continued to attack with missiles - could mean the devices were malfunctioning in Ukraine’s damp, subfreezing weather. The attack on Wednesday suggested that if there was such a glitch, it had been fixed.

Ukraine’s air defenses shot down all 13 of the Iranian-made Shahed drones - designed to dive into their targets and detonate on contact - that were launched at Kyiv and the surrounding region, officials said. There were no reports of casualties, but falling debris damaged two government buildings and at least four houses, they said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine praised the air-defense systems in a brief video message published on the Telegram messaging app: “Well done! I’m proud! We thank the Air Defense Forces!”