Ukraine Says It Shot Down Several Russian Balloons

Ukraine shot down Russian balloons over Kyiv, military officials in the capital announced Wednesday. Six balloons were identified, they said, and most were brought down by Ukrainian fire. "The purpose of launching the balloons was possibly to detect and exhaust our air defenses," the city's military administration posted on Telegram, Reuters reports. The balloons might have held corner reflectors and reconnaissance equipment, officials said, though they didn't say when exactly they were seen over Kyiv. Air alerts were issued in the capitol on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian air force said earlier in the day that Russia is using reconnaissance drones less frequently, and it's possible the balloons are being used to conserve them. "The enemy wants us to use our air defenses," Yuriy Ihnat said, "which protect our strategic objects, on these balloons, which cost nothing." Moldova, southwest of Ukraine, had said it spotted an unidentified Russian object that resembled a balloon in its skies Tuesday. Romania reported scrambling jets Tuesday when an object that looked like a weather balloon was spotted in its skies, per the Hill. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)