Russia reports destruction of 69 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions

Russian air defence systems have intercepted and destroyed a total of 69 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across several regions, the country's Defence Ministry announced.

According to the ministry’s statement, “During the past night, 69 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of aeroplane type were destroyed by air defence systems on duty: 27 UAVs over the territory of Belgorod region, 22 UAVs over the territory of Voronezh region, 10 UAVs over the territory of Lipetsk region, 8 UAVs over the territory of Kursk region, 2 UAVs over the territory of Crimea,” Caliber.Az reports.

Meanwhile, neither Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov nor Alexander Khinshtein, the acting Governor of Kursk Oblast, have issued any public statements regarding the drone attacks.

The Telegram channel Astra reported that Rosaviatsiya, the Federal Air Transport Agency, has implemented temporary flight restrictions at airports in Saratov, Saratov Oblast, and Tambov, Tambov Oblast.

Yevgeny Pervyshov, the acting Governor of Tambov Oblast, refrained from commenting directly on the attacks but confirmed a fire incident at a facility in the city of Kotovsk, which resulted in the deaths of three employees.

“As reported by the Kotovsk mayor, a fire broke out at one of the city's facilities on the night of July 2-3. Early reports show that the cause was a disruption of technological processes. The fire was quickly contained... Three employees were killed. Three more people were injured, two of whom were taken to hospital,” Pervyshov stated.

By Vafa Guliyeva