(Reuters) – The Russian defence ministry announced that Russia’s air defence forces have successfully destroyed 42 drones launched by Ukraine over the Crimean Peninsula and shot down one missile over the Kaluga region during the early hours of Friday.
The ministry stated that nine drones were eliminated by the air defence forces, while 33 were suppressed by electronic warfare and crashed over Crimea before reaching their intended targets. It is important to note that Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol, a port city in Crimea installed by Moscow, reported on the Telegram messaging app that several drones were destroyed over the Khersones promontory, which is located on the outskirts of Sevastopol.
In a previous announcement, the defence ministry informed that a Ukrainian missile launched over the Kaluga region, which shares a border with the Moscow region, had also been shot down.
There have been no immediate reports of casualties or damages resulting from these attacks, which Russia has attributed to Ukraine. As a precautionary measure, Russian airports briefly suspended flights during this time period.
This surge in drone attacks marks one of the highest numbers of drones launched in recent times.
While Ukraine rarely takes public responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territories within Ukraine, they have acknowledged in recent months that damaging Russia’s military infrastructure aids in Kyiv’s counteroffensive efforts.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Warsaw; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Miral Fahmy)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
