Russian air defences down 178 Ukrainian long-range drones overnight

Russian air defences report 178 long-range Ukrainian drones downed overnight

Russian air defence units shot down 178 long-range Ukrainian drones overnight across eight Russian regions, Crimea, and over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, with officials saying there were no reports of damage to critical infrastructure.

"During the night, air defences intercepted and shot down 178 fixed-wing Ukrainian drones," Russia’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement published on MAX, the Russian messaging platform.

According to the military command, the devices were brought down over the Russian regions of Bryansk, Kaluga, Rostov, Smolensk, Tver and Adygea, as well as the Moscow region, Krasnodar and the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, in addition to areas over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Overnight, no Russian or Ukrainian media outlet reported any damage to Russian critical infrastructure, the main target of Kyiv’s strikes, which are intended to slow Russia’s war machine by hitting the rear in depth.

Attacks on civilian infrastructure

Earlier this morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned "attacks" that he said struck civilian infrastructure "even before the air-raid siren sounded" and stated that, besides the capital, the regions of Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv were also affected.

Ukrainian authorities said at least 11 people, including a child, were injured as a result of the wave of strikes, which reportedly hit residential and commercial buildings.

That figure comes on top of at least one person killed and 29 injured, including a minor, in earlier shelling carried out by Russia on Friday night against the Zaporizhzhia region.

Zelensky said Russia launched more than 120 drones and 12 missiles, including six ballistic missiles that managed to break through Ukraine’s defences. For that reason, he again pressed for Ukraine to sign licensing agreements as quickly as possible to manufacture its own Patriot air defence systems-deals he has been seeking for months.

Russia confirms strikes on Kyiv and Odesa region targets

Russian authorities confirmed the overnight attacks on Ukraine.

"During the night, the Armed Forces of Russia carried out multiple strikes with precision, long-range weapons launched from land and air, as well as drones," the Ministry of Defence said in a statement published on MAX.

The strikes were said to have targeted facilities in Kyiv linked to Ukraine’s military-industrial complex that are involved in producing and storing long- and medium-range drones.

Moscow added that "port infrastructure facilities in Odesa, Chornomorsk and Izmail, in the Odesa region, used for transporting and storing military cargo, fuel and lubricants" were also hit.

In particular, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said that, in Kyiv, the Aerodron company-specialised in manufacturing the heavy long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) E-300 Enterprise and D-80 Discovery-was struck, along with the company Fanplit, which it described as being involved in assembling and storing Fair Point 2 drones, with a range of 200 kilometres, and their components.

According to the Russian command, the latter presented itself as a civilian manufacturer of pressed wood and furniture, which allegedly allowed it to conceal its real activities and move cargo clandestinely.

In the Odesa region, Russia said the port of Chornomorsk was attacked. The port handles 90% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports and is regarded as a crucial logistics hub for supplying military cargo and fuel to the Ukrainian army.