MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. The Ukrainian army faced an unprecedented number of Russian aircraft in the airspace on Monday night, Air Force spokesman Yury Ignat has said.

"Last night there was an unprecedented number of aircraft in the air. Several dozens planes were in the airspace at night, which is very unusual. The activity of aviation was high," he said on the TV channel Rada.

During the night, an air alert was declared throughout Ukraine. Explosions were reported in the Odessa and Khmelnitsky regions. Ukrainian media, in particular, said that explosions were heard near Starokonstantinov in the Khmelnitsky Region. An air force base is located in the east of the city.

Later, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian Armed Forces had launched a group strike on Ukraine's storage sites of Storm Shadow cruise missiles and depleted uranium ammunition. All targets were hit.