Russian air defenses down 85 Ukrainian drones over several regions

MOSCOW, Nov. 04 (YPA) – The Russian Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 85 Ukrainian drones over several regions last night.

According to a statement cited by Sputnik, the ministry said: “On-duty air defenses intercepted and destroyed 85 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles between 11:30 p.m. on November 3 and 7:00 a.m. on November 4 (8:30 p.m. – 4:00 a.m. GMT).”

“Forty drones were shot down over the Voronezh Region, 20 over the Nizhny Novgorod Region, ten over the Belgorod Region, six over the Kursk Region, four over the Lipetsk Region, two over the Volgograd Region, another two over the Bashkortostan Region and one over the Saratov Region,” the statement reads.

Kiev has been using attack drones and artillery strikes against civilian areas and infrastructure in Russia, according to Moscow.

For their part, Russian forces responded exclusively by targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure, defense-industrial facilities, locations used for storing, repairing, or manufacturing military equipment, and gathering points of Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reiterated that the ongoing “special military operation,” which began on February 24, aims to protect residents of Donbas who, Moscow claims, have faced persecution and genocide by the Kiev government for years.

@E.Y.M