Russia claims it downed Ukrainian missile, drones

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Russia claimed on Friday that it downed a Ukrainian missile and drones launched to strike the country’s territory.

A statement by the Russian Defense Ministry claimed Ukraine attempted to conduct an attack using a Neptune cruise missile.

“The Ukrainian missile was detected and destroyed by air defense systems on duty over the northwestern part of the Black Sea,” it said.

A statement earlier in the day also claimed that Ukraine attempted to strike Russia using drones.

The statement indicated that Russian air defense systems shot down 36 drones over the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and one drone over the country’s Krasnodar region.

Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on the claims.

Late Thursday, two people were injured in Russia’s Belgorod region in an attempted airstrike, during which 10 air targets were shot down by air defense systems, according to governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.