Russia says destroyed 76 Ukrainian drones

Russia and Ukraine repelled drone attacks overnight, their respective armed forces said on Saturday morning, over two years after Moscow launched its offensive on Ukraine.

Kyiv has stepped up strikes on Russian territory this year, targeting energy sites that it says fuel Russia’s assault on Ukraine, as well as towns and villages just across the border.

The Russian defence ministry said it destroyed at least 76 drones launched by Kyiv, including 36 over the border region of Rostov and 17 in the Oryol region.

Russian air defence disabled eight and nine drones respectively over the regions of Kursk and Belgorod, also bordering Ukraine.

Belgorod’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that Ukrainian forces targeted an oil depot where “one of the tanks caught on fire due to the explosion” but there were no casualties.

Ukraine’s armed forces said they struck the Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region and “a hit was recorded on the ammunition depots where guided aerial bombs were stored”.

Russian officials in the region did not comment but said six drones had been aimed at an oil depot in the Kamensky district, setting fire and damaging several fuel tanks.

Kyiv says it is carrying out these strikes in response to the Russian bombardments that it has seen for over two years.
On Saturday, it said it had faced several missiles and 29 drones, out of which 24 drones were destroyed.

Local officials in the central region of Vinnytsia said the attacks damaged infrastructure, without giving more details. (BSS/AFP)