Russia, Ukraine exchange accusations on overnight drone attacks

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Moscow and Kyiv on Sunday exchanged accusations of overnight drone attacks against each other.

A Russian Defense Ministry statement claimed that the country's air defenses downed 51 Ukrainian drones over seven regions.

The statement claimed that 18 drones were shot down over the Tambov region, while 16 were intercepted over the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine.

It further claimed that Ukrainian drones were downed over the Bryansk, Lipetsk, Oryol, Voronezh, and Kursk regions, adding that one was shot down over the Sea of ​​Azov.

Tambov Governor Maksim Yegorov said in a statement on Telegram that a drone landed in the region's Michurinsky district, resulting in a fire that was put out.

Separately, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod oblast, said on Telegram that a woman was injured in a drone attack on the village of Varvarovka, located about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Elsewhere, Ukraine's Air Force claimed that the country's air defenses shot down 41 out of 80 drones launched by Russia over the areas of Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv.

Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, claimed on Telegram that about a dozen Russian drones were intercepted over the outskirts of Ukraine's capital.

He said an air alert in Kyiv lasted almost 3 1/2 hours but that the city suffered no casualties or damage.

In the border region of Sumy, the regional military administration said on Telegram that an overnight drone attack targeted energy infrastructure in the Romny district.

"All necessary services are working on site. The consequences of the enemy attack are being clarified," the statement added.

Neither Russian nor Ukrainian authorities commented on each other's claims, as the Russia-Ukraine war nears its third anniversary set for next February.