MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 121 drones launched overnight by Ukraine, which targeted 13 regions, including the capital Moscow, without causing damage nor victims.
According to the ministry, six drones were destroyed over the Moscow region and one over the city itself, while others targeted other Russian regions, including those bordering Ukraine and Kursk. , where Ukrainian troops have held part of the territory since last summer despite efforts by Moscow to drive them out.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Friday that air defenses had intercepted Ukrainian drone attacks at four sites around the capital.
Twenty drones also targeted the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, the ministry said.
The head of Ukraine’s Center for Combating Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, clarified on Telegram that the attack had hit an oil refinery in Ryazan as well as the Kremniy plant in Bryansk. According to Kyiv, this site produces microelectronics for the Russian army.
According to the Russian news agency RIA, which cites a press release from the factory, operations on the site were suspended following an attack by six drones which did not cause any injuries.
Reuters was unable to confirm this information.
The region’s governor, Pavel Malkov, said on Telegram that rescue teams put out a fire after drone debris damaged a house.
-Kursk Mayor Igor Kutsak said the night’s attack had damaged power lines and cut electricity in one area of the city.
The Defense Ministry specifies that drones were also destroyed over the border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod and the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia. The oblasts of Saratov, Rostov, Voronezh, Tula, Orel and Lipetsk were also targeted.
The Ukrainian Air Force, for its part, announced on Friday that it had shot down 25 of the 58 drones launched by Russia during the night. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, drone debris killed two men and a woman in the Kyiv region and another person was injured.
The Russian attack also damaged a residential building, eight houses, commercial buildings and several private cars, Kyiv region officials said.
As the conflict enters its fourth year on February 24, Moscow is intensifying its air strikes against Ukraine, sending dozens of drones almost every night.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces launched more than 7,000 drones against Ukraine in 2024, at least twice as many as in 2023.
(Reporting by Reuters Moscow bureau; with contributions from Olena Harmash in Kyiv; writing by Andrew Osborn and Ronald Poleski; French version Diana Mandia; editing by Blandine Hénault)
