Russia says it shot down almost 400 Ukrainian drones

Russian air defences downed 389 incoming Ukrainian drones, Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday, in what it described as the largest overnight attack on Russian regions and Crimea since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine more than four years ago.

The drones were intercepted over 13 Russian regions as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, News.Az reports, citing the Associated Press.

The attack highlighted the growing capability of Ukraine’s domestically developed long-range drones.

It came a day after Russia launched nearly 1,000 drones and 34 missiles at civilian areas of Ukraine within 24 hours, extending its usual night-time barrage into daylight in one of the largest aerial assaults of the war. At least six people were killed and around 50 injured, Ukrainian authorities said.

The United Nations cultural organisation UNESCO said on Wednesday it was “deeply alarmed” by Russia striking a World Heritage site in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv during the bombardment.

The escalation in aerial attacks comes amid a pause in US-mediated talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv, as Washington’s attention is diverted by the war with Iran and as Ukraine anticipates a spring offensive by Russia’s larger army.

Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region north of Moscow, said 56 drones were shot down there, and a fire broke out at the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga as a result of the Ukrainian attack.

Ukrainian forces also carried out a missile strike overnight on Russia’s Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine, damaging energy infrastructure, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Power, water and heating supplies were disrupted, he added.

In Ukraine, Russian drones struck residential areas of the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Wednesday afternoon, injuring at least nine people, according to mayor Ihor Terekhov.

The Ukrainian drone attack on Russia drew attention in the Baltic states, which lie north-west of Ukraine and are relatively close to potential targets in Russia’s Leningrad region, including St Petersburg.

Officials in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, close allies of Ukraine, said the drones were unlikely to have been targeting their territory. Estonia and Latvia said the drones were Ukrainian, while Lithuania described one as a “stray” without specifying its origin.

Estonian media reported that a drone coming from Russia struck a power plant chimney early on Wednesday, but said electricity production was not disrupted. The plant is about 50 kilometres from the port of Ust-Luga.

Also on Wednesday, Latvia’s defence ministry said a drone had crashed in a region near Russia. No injuries or damage were reported.

In Moldova, on Ukraine’s south-western border, authorities on Tuesday urged citizens to conserve electricity during peak hours after Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid disrupted a key power line between Moldova and Romania.

News.Az 

By Emil Kaziyev