Doha: Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Saturday that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 53 Ukrainian drones over several regions during the past night.
According to Qatar News Agency, the ministry reported that 18 drones were destroyed over Bryansk Oblast, 11 over Kursk Oblast, 7 over Kaluga Oblast, 5 over Tula Oblast, 3 over Belgorod Oblast, and 2 over Voronezh Oblast.
Separately, Vladislav Shapsha, the governor of Kaluga Oblast, stated on Telegram that Russian air defense forces destroyed 7 drones in the Kirovsky district, located south of the capital, Moscow. The governor noted that the crash of one drone caused a fire in an uninhabited building, with rescue services working to extinguish the blaze.
Since the conflict began in February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have regularly exchanged claims of downing each other’s drones. However, verifying these reports remains challenging due to the ongoing war, which restricts access to combat zones and complicates the confirmation of such data.
