A series of Ukrainian drone raids has also been repelled across Russia, with a total of 170 UAVs downed
Russian anti-aircraft defenses have repelled a large-scale Ukrainian attack, downing eight Western-supplied missiles and 170 drones across several regions, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Saturday.
According to a statement posted on Telegram, Russian air defenses destroyed a total of eight Franco-British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and three Ukrainian Neptune-MD guided missiles. The Black Sea Fleet also neutralized 14 unmanned surface vessels operating in the waterway.
Most of the drone activity was concentrated over Crimea, where 96 aircraft-type UAVs were intercepted, the ministry said. Another 47 were downed over Krasnodar Region, 16 over Bryansk and Kursk Regions, nine over Rostov Region, and two over Belgorod Region.
Krasnodar Region Governor Veniamin Kondratiev said debris from intercepted drones damaged three apartment buildings in Novorossiysk, injuring four people, including two children. Three grain storage tanks also caught fire after being hit by falling fragments. He added that drone debris also landed in the villages of Taman, Yurovka, and Tsibanobalka near Anapa.
In Rostov Region, acting Governor Yury Slyusar reported that drone wreckage ignited fires in two houses in the village of Tselina. No injuries were reported. Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz confirmed that there were no casualties or damage in his region. Officials in Crimea, Belgorod, and Kursk Regions have yet to comment on the attacks.
Amid the drone attacks, traffic on the Crimean Bridge was halted for four hours.
Ukrainian forces routinely target Russian territory with long-range kamikaze drones and Western-supplied missiles. On Friday, Ukraine launched a combined attack on Sevastopol, Crimea. Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said the local air defenses and naval forces successfully intercepted the strike, with no damage reported. A day earlier, a Ukrainian drone strike on the town of Aleshki in Kherson Region killed seven people and injured more than 20.
