Russia, Ukraine report major overnight drone attacks Updated

Russia's Ministry of Defence said its forces carried out overnight strikes on Ukrainian port infrastructure and cargo vessels that it claimed were being used to transport military supplies for Ukraine's armed forces.

In a statement, the ministry said Russian strike drones hit two dry cargo ships in the port of Mykolaiv while they were unloading what it described as military cargo, Caliber.Az reports.

The ministry also referred to a series of strikes it said had been conducted the previous day. According to the statement, Russian forces targeted two bulk carriers delivering military cargo to the Dnipro-Bug Estuary, a container terminal handling military shipments at the port of Chornomorsk, and another bulk carrier south of Odesa.

In addition, the ministry said Russian forces struck the Kyiv-based Smart Intelligent Systems facility, which it claimed manufactures drones and related components.

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Russia and Ukraine have reported large-scale overnight drone attacks, with Moscow saying its air defences destroyed 276 Ukrainian UAVs and Kyiv reporting that it neutralised 123 Russian drones.

According to Russia’s Defence Ministry, the drones were intercepted over 17 regions, including Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol, Penza, Rostov, Tula, Ulyanovsk and Yaroslavl, as well as the Moscow region, Tatarstan, Udmurtia and Krasnodar Krai.

Russian authorities also reported drone interceptions over the Black and Azov seas. Three UAVs were reportedly destroyed while approaching Moscow.

Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia launched 147 strike drones overnight on July 27, including Shahed, Gerbera and Italmas UAVs, as well as Parody decoy drones.

According to preliminary data, Ukrainian air defences had shot down or neutralised 123 drones by 8 a.m. local time.

Ukraine said 21 strike drones had hit 10 locations, while debris from downed UAVs was found at seven sites.

“The attack is ongoing; there are several Russian UAVs in the airspace. Please observe safety precautions!” the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.

By Sabina Mammadli