(Reuters) – Russia’s defense ministry announced that its air defense systems successfully intercepted and destroyed a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, over the Leningrad region. This incident occurred near the Gulf of Finland. A second drone was also shot down in the Belgorod region on the same day.
The governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, confirmed that the “aerial targets” were engaged and neutralized over the Gulf of Finland, specifically in the Lomonosov district, including the Bronka port approximately 60 kilometers west of St. Petersburg. Fortunately, there were no casualties or damages reported as a result of the drone interception.
According to the defense ministry, Ukraine had made an attempt to launch an attack using aircraft-type UAVs in the Leningrad region. Additionally, another drone was intercepted over the Belgorod region, which shares a border with Ukraine. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod region, stated that the drones were taken down in two separate villages without any harm caused.
Russian state-run news agency TASS quoted aviation officials who mentioned that operations at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg were temporarily restricted due to the incident, although no flight schedules were disrupted. TASS also confirmed that the movement of ships at the Bronka port remained unaffected, with MarineTraffic data showing only one Turkish bulk carrier docked at the port during that time.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Potter)
