According to Russia’s Defence Ministry, 45 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight, including 11 that targeted the Moscow region, 23 over the Bryansk region, and six over Belgorod.
Russian authorities say Moscow has repelled the largest attack yet by Ukrainian drones since the start of fighting two and a half years ago.
45 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight, which included 11 targeting the Moscow region, 23 over the Bryansk region, and six over Belgorod.
Three were shot down over Kaluga, and two over Kursk, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry.
“This was one of the biggest attempts of all time to attack Moscow using drones,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel.
Sobyanin said all of the drones were destroyed because strong defences had been created around the capital.
Some Russian social media channels shared videos of drones being destroyed by air defence systems, which then set off car alarms.
In the Bryansk region, governor Alexander Bogomaz, said there was a “mass” attack on his region but that 23 drones were destroyed.
The drone attacks come as Ukrainian forces are continuing to push into Russia’s western Kursk region.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank based in Washington, said in its daily report late Tuesday that the Ukrainians have made additional advances in their unprecedented incursion, now in its third week.
More evacuations in Russia’s Kursk
Local authorities in Kursk said on Wednesday that the number of citizens who fled from the region rose again.
The number has gone up to 122,000 citizens who left from nine border regions since the start of the incursion according to the Russian Emergency Ministry, who says it delivered 12 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the residents of Kurchatov.
“Employees of the department sent food packages to the affected areas and transported them to temporary accommodation and humanitarian aid centres”, an official statement by the ministry read.
In total, around 2,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid have arrived in the Kursk region.
On 6 August, Ukrainian forces made a lightning push into the region, seizing villages and taking hundreds of prisoners.
According to the ISW, Ukrainian forces appear to be striking Russian pontoon bridges and pontoon engineering equipment over the Seym River in an area west of the Kurst oblast.
But the gains there come as Ukraine continues to lose ground in its eastern industrial region of Donbas, where Russian soldiers are advancing.