Moscow and Kyiv exchange accusations over overnight drone attacks

KYIV — Moscow and Kyiv exchanged accusations on Sunday regarding a series of drone attacks that occurred overnight.

A statement from the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the country’s air defenses successfully downed 51 Ukrainian drones across seven regions.

According to the ministry, 18 drones were intercepted over the Tambov region, and 16 were shot down in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

The statement also mentioned that Ukrainian drones were downed in the Bryansk, Lipetsk, Oryol, Voronezh, and Kursk regions, with one drone reportedly intercepted over the Sea of Azov.

Tambov Governor Maksim Yegorov reported via Telegram that a drone had landed in the Michurinsky district, igniting a fire that was subsequently extinguished. Separately, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod oblast, noted that a woman was injured in a drone attack on the village of Varvarovka, situated about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

In contrast, Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that its air defenses shot down 41 out of 80 drones launched by Russia, with interceptions reported over various regions including Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv.

Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, stated that around a dozen Russian drones were intercepted on the outskirts of the capital. He added that an air alert in Kyiv lasted nearly three and a half hours, but the city reported no casualties or damage.

In the Sumy border region, local military officials reported a drone attack targeting energy infrastructure in the Romny district. “All necessary services are working on site. The consequences of the enemy attack are being clarified,” the statement read.

As the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its third anniversary in February, neither Russian nor Ukrainian authorities have commented on each other’s claims regarding the drone incidents. — Agencies