Ukraine, Russia say foiled dozens of drone attacks

Russia said on Saturday it had downed 47 Ukrainian drones while Kyiv reported neutralised 24 drones fired by Moscow.

The Ukrainian air force said many missiles were fired from the Russian border region of Belgorod, without specifying the number or the type.

It said Russia had fired 28 drones at Ukraine, of which 24 were destroyed in the Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Mikolayev and Kherson regions.

The Ukrainian chief of staff also said Kyiv’s forces had struck a fuel depot overnight in the eastern Russian-occupied Lugansk region, setting it on fire. It did not give any details.

Moscow did not confirm the attack. But the Russian defence ministry said its forces had downed 47 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 17 in the southeastern Krasnodar region, 16 over the Azov Sea and 12 over the border region of Lursk.

The Krasnodar governor said on Telegram that Ukrainian drone attacks had damaged three homes and set a vehicle on fire.

Russian forces have made advances across the eastern front line and targeted Ukraine’s power grid as the country faces its toughest winter since the full-scale Russian invasion started in February 2022.