Moscow—Russia downed 11 Ukrainian drones nearing Crimea and two headed for Moscow, officials said Thursday, the latest in a blitz of air strikes on Russian-held territory.
“Two UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) flying in the direction of the city of Moscow were destroyed,” the Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
It said one drone was shot down over the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow, and another over the Odintsovsky district bordering the capital.
Those drones were shot down at around 4:00 am (0100 GMT), Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
Two other Ukrainian drones were shot down near the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean coast, the defense ministry said, and “another 9 were suppressed by means of electronic warfare and crashed in the Black Sea”.
It said there were no reports of damage or casualties in any of the affected areas.
The strikes come a day after Russia said two Ukrainian combat drones headed for Moscow were shot down, and constitute at least the fourth attack near the capital within a week.
Russia previously said it downed a drone over Kaluga on Monday, as well as seven drones in the region last Thursday.
Until a series of attacks in recent months, Moscow had not been targeted during the conflict in Ukraine, which began more than a year ago.
The Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, however, has been disrupted by several strikes throughout the hostilities, and has seen more frequent attacks in recent weeks. AFP