Russian air defences down 32 Ukrainian UAVs across seven regions, Azov Sea

Russian air defence systems have downed 32 UAVs over seven regions and the Azov Sea during the night.

The highest number of drones - 11 - were shot down over Saratov region, Caliber.Az reports citing the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Additionally, four drones were destroyed over the Kursk and Rostov regions, and the same number of attacks were repelled over the Azov Sea.

Furthermore, air defence units destroyed three FPV drones each over Belgorod and Bryansk regions, two over Krasnodar Krai, and one over Volgograd region.

Note that, Russia this week announced its forces had taken control of the resource-rich town of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow's military advances continue nearly three years into the ongoing war. Despite Ukraine's renewed offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, which has left local residents rattled, Russian troops have persisted in making slow but steady territorial gains in eastern Ukraine.

The protracted conflict, characterized by relentless attritional warfare, appears to be taking a toll on the morale of Ukrainian forces. Faced with manpower shortages, Ukraine's military continues to grapple with the mounting pressure of Russian assaults. This ongoing war, the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II, has seen significant casualties and rising costs for both sides.

According to recent geolocated evidence from the Washington, DC-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia gained a substantial 4,168 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in 2024 alone. This is roughly double the size of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius and five times the area of New York City.

These territorial gains are largely made up of fields and small settlements in Ukraine, except territory previously lost and now regained by Russia in the Kursk region. 

By Aghakazim Guliyev