Air defences down 112 Ukrainian drones over Russia, 12 headed to Moscow

MOSCOW: Russian air defences destroyed or intercepted 112 Ukrainian drones over a three-hour period, including a swarm of drones repelled while headed for Moscow, officials said early on Wednesday.

Russia’s Defence Ministry, in a post on the Telegram messaging app said the incidents occurred between 9 pm and midnight Moscow time. Fifty-nine drones were downed over the Bryansk region on the Ukrainian border, the others were intercepted over five different regions.

The ministry announcement made no mention of drones being downed in the region surrounding Moscow.

Read more: Trump administration halts scheduling of new student visa appointments

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, in a series of notices posted in rapid succession on Telegram, listed 12 drones he said had been intercepted while heading for the Russian capital.

“Ministry of Defence air defence units continue to repel the attacks of enemy drones,” Sobyanin wrote.

Recovery crews were examining fragments on the ground, he said.

Russia and Ukraine fired large numbers of missiles at each other over the past week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that more than 900 missiles had been fired at Ukrainian targets over a three-day period ending early on Monday. The numbers tapered off on Monday night to Tuesday morning.