KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian air defenses shot down more than 100 Ukrainian drones Sunday over Russia’s western regions, Moscow officials said, while 17 people were injured in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in a ballistic missile attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 110 drones were destroyed in the overnight barrage against seven Russian regions. Many targeted Russia´s border region of Kursk, where 43 drones were reportedly shot down.
Social media footage appeared to show air defenses at work over the city of Dzerzhinsk in the Nizhny Novgorod region, close to a factory producing explosives.
Local Gov. Gleb Nikitin wrote on social media Sunday that four fire fighters had been injured repelling a drone attack over Dzerzhinsk’s industrial zone, but did not give further details.
Such large-scale aerial attacks are still relatively rare over Russia 2 1/2 years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A similar attack at the end of September saw Russia’s Ministry of Defense report the destruction of 125 drones across seven regions.
Meanwhile, 17 people were injured in Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih after the city was hit with two Russian ballistic missiles, officials said Sunday.
The attack late Saturday evening damaged homes and businesses, said local administration head Oleksandr Vilkul.
The Ukrainian air force said that Russia launched 49 drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles in total overnight. It said 31 of the drones were shot down over 12 regions, including the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, while another 13 disappeared from radar – suggesting they were knocked out by electronic defenses.
In a statement on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had launched some 800 guided aerial bombs and more than 500 attack drones over Ukraine in the past week alone.
“Every day, Russia strikes our cities and communities. It is deliberate terror from the enemy against our people,” he said, renewing calls for continued air support from the country´s allies.
“United in defense, the world can stand against this targeted terror.”
