Russia shoots down 22 drones, fires missile barrage at Ukraine
Moscow, Sep 21 (EFE).- Russia said Thursday that it had shot down 22 Ukrainian drones over the Moscow-occupied Crimean peninsula and the surrounding Black Sea as well as over the Russian regions of Kursk, Belgorod and Oryol.
“On the night of September 20-21, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles on targets on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped,” the Russian defense ministry said on Telegram.
“Air defense systems destroyed 19 Ukrainian UAVs over the Black Sea and the territory of the Republic of Crimea, one each over the territories of the Kursk, Belgorod and Oryol regions,” it added.
Drone attacks against Russian regions have been frequent, especially in recent months.
On Wednesday, Ukraine had claimed drone and missile strikes against the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.
The Department for Strategic Communications (StratCom) of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Telegram on Wednesday that the Ukrainian army had conducted a successful strike against a Russian command post of the Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol.
Meanwhile, Ukraine announced on Thursday that its air defenses had shot down more than 20 missiles launched by Russia towards its capital, Kyiv, in the morning.
Falling debris from the intercepted missiles caused damage to infrastructure in several districts of Kyiv, the city’s military administration said on Telegram.
A gas pipe was damaged in the Shevchenkivskyi district, although it did not explode.
In the Darnytskyi district, several cars caught fire after a fire broke out at a service station and seven people were injured after the windows of a two-story dormitory were damaged.
Explosions were also reported in another four regions of the northeast, central and west of the country, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko announced.
In central Ukraine’s Cherkasy region, a Russian missile destroyed a hotel.
The impact of the missile also caused a fire that destroyed several stalls in a market and injured seven people, the official said.
In the northeastern Kharkiv city, Russian missiles destroyed a warehouse and injured two people, he added.
The Russians also struck the western Rivne region as well as an industrial zone of the Lyiv region, causing damage and a fire. EFE
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