Russia Downs 822 Ukrainian Drones, Six Killed in Drone Attacks
Moscow: In a fresh round of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian air defence intercepted and downed 822 Ukrainian drones while at least six people were killed in Ukrainian-drone attacks, according to a series of reports by news agency TASS.
As per TASS, 822 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russian regions and the Black and Azov Seas were intercepted and destroyed overnight, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
“Russian air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 822 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Tambov and Tula regions, the Moscow Region, the Krasnodar Region and the Republic of Crimea, as well as over the Azov and Black Seas, from 8 p.m. Moscow time (5 p.m. GMT) on August 15 to 8 a.m. Moscow time (5 a.m. GMT) on August 16,” the Defence Ministry said.
Meanwhile, two separate reports by TASS mentioned that at least six people were killed and four injured in drone attacks in Rostov and Moscow.
As per the report on Sunday, three people were killed and one more was injured in a drone attack on southern Russia’s Rostov Region, Governor Yury Slyusar reported.
“Last night, three people were killed as a result of an aerial attack on the Rostov Region, and one more has been hospitalised with injuries,” he wrote on the Max channel, according to TASS.
The report further mentioned, quoting the official, that more than 150 UAVs were destroyed over three cities and nine districts in the region in the Ukrainian attack, the official added.
In another report earlier today, TASS mentioned that three people were injured in a drone attack near the Moscow Automobile Ring Road (MKAD), according to Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
“Defence Ministry air defence capabilities have downed another nine drones targeting Moscow. Three people were injured near MKAD; they are being given all necessary assistance. Emergency specialists are working at the scene where [drone] debris fell,” Sobyanin wrote on the Max channel, as per TASS.
Since midnight, as many as 132 unmanned aerial vehicles flying toward the Russian capital have been shot down, calculations by TASS based on the mayor’s posts show.
Shortly after the Ukrainian drone strikes were reported, Russia retaliated via strikes on key Ukrainian storage sites and production facilities.
Russian forces hit a Ukrainian uncrewed boat production facility, which the Russian Defence Ministry claimed was used for the production and storage of components for uncrewed boats aimed at attacking Russian coastal cities, ships and infrastructure facilities in the Black Sea.
TASS further mentioned, citing the Defence Ministry, that Russian forces hit three dry cargo ships and two tankers at Odesa port, which it said were used to deliver military cargoes and fuels for the Ukrainian Army.
In another report, it said that according to the Russian Defence Ministry, forces also hit assembly facilities and storage sites for long-range drones and unmanned boats, as well as temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries in 159 areas.