Kyiv will allocate 260 million hryvnias ($6.2 million) for a drone interceptor program to defend the capital's skies from Russian drones, city authorities said on Friday.

Officials say a Russian drone barrage has targeted the center of Kharkiv, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, has announced the allocation of UAH 260 million (around $6.5 million) to launch a comprehensive drone interception system aimed at countering Russian UAV attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

Russia launched a large-scale aerial assault on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, marking a second consecutive night of ferocious attacks on the country, as Russia ramps up its bombardment more than three years into the war.