Poland's minister warns it will be "catastrophic" for the West if Putin conquers Ukraine 2:36

(CNN) -- Russia unleashed another large barrage of missiles and drones on Ukraine on Saturday, the fourth such attack since Dec. 29, amid concerns that Moscow is trying to overwhelm Ukraine's air defense.

The Russian assault was composed of 40 strike weapons, including cruise missiles, airballistic missiles, ballistic missiles, air missiles, anti-aircraft missiles and unmanned aerial attack vehicles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Ukraine managed to shoot down eight missiles, its air force said. In addition, they claimed that "more than 20 airstrike weapons launched failed to hit their targets due to extensive electronic warfare countermeasures."

• Missile bombardment, drones and night camouflage: Kyiv points to Russia's tactics to overwhelm its air defenses

Air raid alerts and defenses were activated across the country. Impacts occurred in several regions, including the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine and Dnipro in the east.

In Chernihiv, missile fragments caused damage to unoccupied civilian residential buildings in the city, according to police.

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"Fragments of an enemy missile caused destruction in the private residential area of Chernihiv. Luckily, there were no injuries," police wrote on Telegram.

The area had been damaged before, so there were no civilian casualties, the local mayor said.

In Dnipro, attacks took place in the city, according to the head of the military administration of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhii Lysak.

"We are now determining the extent of the damage caused by the strikes. However, people are always the priority. Luckily, everyone is safe," Lysak wrote on Telegram.

An apartment damaged after a recent shelling in Makiivka, on the outskirts of Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Saturday's attacks are the fourth largest since Russia began major bombardments across the country on Dec. 29.

Changing tactics

Analysts say the recent Russian missile strike is aimed at overburdening Ukraine's limited missile defense.

In an earlier attack on Jan. 7, Ukraine was only able to shoot down 18 of the 59 missiles launched.

The Russian military has also been using new tactics as part of its air campaign, such as painting its Iranian-made drones black, camouflaging them against the night sky.

Another tactic, a Ukrainian unit told CNN, is to move the exhausts of some drones' engines back and forth, in an effort to confuse anti-aircraft batteries using thermal sights.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday during a press conference with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that the country is far from having comprehensive air coverage.

"We lack Patriot systems and appropriate systems of different ranges. It's coming little by little. Something is on the way. We have agreed on something new. However, we still lack adequate systems to combat, for example, ballistic missiles," Zelensky said.

Ukraine has been relying on mobile firing groups for air defenses to shoot down drones as stocks of anti-aircraft missiles are depleted.

"They are now the central unit that destroys enemy UAVs. We are counting on them to be able to save the anti-aircraft guided missiles, which are quite scarce for us in such massive attacks," Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said after a bombardment of 29 Iranian Shahed UAVs was launched across the country last week.