Russia says it downed 223 drones as Ukraine reports major missile-drone assault

Russia’s air defence forces neutralised 223 fixed-wing drones between 20:00 Moscow time (21:00 Baku time) on July 22, and 08:00 Moscow time (09:00 Baku time) on July 23, the Russian Defence Ministry stated.

According to the ministry, the drones were intercepted over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Orenburg, Rostov, Ryazan, Samara, Saratov, Tver, Tula and Ulyanovsk regions, as well as the Moscow region, Tatarstan and the Sea of Azov.

Meanwhile, Ukraine announced that Russia had launched a large-scale overnight attack on July 23 involving one Iskander-M ballistic missile, five Kh-59/69 guided air-launched missiles, and 168 strike drones, including Shahed, Gerbera and Italmas UAVs, as well as Parody decoy drones.

According to preliminary Ukrainian military data, air defences shot down or electronically suppressed two Kh-59/69 guided missiles and 154 drones.

Ukrainian authorities said impacts from the ballistic missile, three guided missiles and seven attack drones were recorded at nine separate locations. Debris from intercepted aerial targets was also reported at four sites.

“The attack is ongoing, with several Russian UAVs still in the airspace. Follow safety regulations,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement.

By Jeyhun Aghazada