The Kyiv city administration reported that roughly six airborne objects were tracked in the night sky over the capital, with air defense units engaging multiple targets. According to a statement released through the city’s military administration channel, some of these objects could carry corner reflectors and reconnaissance equipment. Air defense systems responded to all detected air targets, and most of the probes were subsequently dropped.
Officials indicated that a final determination of the exact class and equipment of these aerial objects would come after a thorough analysis of any wreckage recovered from the downed balloons. Local authorities suggested that the primary purpose of these objects appeared to be the stimulation or exhaustion of Ukrainian air defenses, rather than a direct impact on critical targets.
Earlier that night, witnesses reported a spherical object descending from the sky near Kyiv. In a subsequent broadcast on a Kyiv television channel, Yuriy Ignat, a representative of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, stated that radar-detected balloons with corner reflectors were launched by the Russian Federation as decoys intended to deplete and divert Ukraine’s air defense capabilities. He noted that Ukraine’s air defense forces were unlikely to shoot down balloons solely because they carried radar corner reflectors, and that the sounds of explosions and missile traces heard by residents were probably related to other targets being engaged in the airspace over the Kyiv region. The authorities described the situation as an attempt to “cover” real targets by using decoys.