Russia shot down 19 Ukrainian aerial drones overnight over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean peninsula, as well as three others in the Kursk, Belgorod and Orel regions, the Defense Ministry announced on Thursday.
• Read also: Ukraine says it shot down 17 Russian drones overnight
• Read also: Karabakh: major victory for Baku, separatists lay down their arms
• Read also: Karabakh: Baku’s offensive will only stop if the separatists “lay down their arms”
“Air defense systems destroyed 19 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the territory of the Republic of Crimea,” the ministry wrote around 2:15 a.m. local time (11:15 p.m. GMT) on Telegram, adding that three devices Additional aircraft were shot down in the Kursk, Belgorod (southwest) and Orel (west) regions, bringing the total number of aircraft to 22.
On August 25, the same source claimed that Russia had shot down 42 Ukrainian drones in Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.
On the night of September 13-14, Russia said it had destroyed five Ukrainian drones, this time naval, in the Black Sea as they attempted to attack the patrol boat “Sergueï Kotov”.
And on Wednesday, local authorities indicated that they had foiled other strikes by kyiv targeting Sevastopol, a large port on the Black Sea used by the Russian fleet.
Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram on Thursday that reports that drones were destroyed in the city area were inaccurate. “Yes, air defense works, but in the Crimea zone” administered separately from Sevastopol, he assured.
Ukrainian assaults against Russian territory have increased in recent months against the backdrop of a counter-offensive launched by kyiv at the beginning of June.
Crimea is regularly targeted, as are the Russian regions bordering Ukraine and Moscow.