Russia says it downed 35 Ukrainian drones over 8 regions

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Russia on Sunday downed over 35 Ukrainian drones overnight and in the morning across eight regions, according to the Defense Ministry, as the country entered the final day of voting in the presidential election.

In a statement, the ministry said that the country's air defenses intercepted and destroyed the drones over Moscow, Belgorod, Kaluga, Oryol, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Kursk, and Krasnodar regions.

Later the ministry, in a separate statement, claimed that Russian air defenses also intercepted 12 missiles over the country's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, as well as a drone over the Moscow region.

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl was killed and her father injured in Ukrainian shelling on a residential building in the city of Belgorod, the region's governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.

In the Krasnodar region, an oil refinery caught fire in a Ukrainian drone attack early in the day, the operational headquarters of the region said in a statement. It added that several Ukrainian drones were downed during the attack, one of which fell on the refinery.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency announced that restrictions were introduced at Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, which are later lifted.

Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on the claims.​​​​​​​