Russia claims downing 19 Ukrainian UAVs

KABUL (Pajhwok): Moscow has claimed shooting down 19 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over four different Russian regions and the Black Sea.

TASS, citing a Russia’s Defence Ministry statement, reported: “Last night, attempts by the Kiev regime to conduct terrorist attacks against facilities on Russian soil using fixed-wing UAVs were thwarted.”

It added air defence forces destroyed the Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, including nine over Belgorod, five over Voronezh, three over the Black Sea, one over Kursk and one over Krasnodar.

Meanwhile, the BBC quoted Russian officials as saying that five people had been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in the Kursk region.

The acting governor of the Kursk region said in addition to the five fatalities, nine people had been taken to hospital after the attack on Rylsk.

A cultural centre, a fitness complex, a school and homes had been damaged in Friday’s strike, Alexander Khinshtein added.

PAN Monitor/mud