Russia says shot down 660 Ukrainian drones overnight

MOSCOW: Russian air defences shot down 660 Ukrainian drones overnight, the defence ministry said Friday, one of the highest figures since the start of the conflict.

Drones were destroyed over more than a dozen regions, including the Russian capital and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azov, the ministry said on Russia’s state-run Max platform.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, said at least 47 drones heading toward the capital were intercepted.

“Emergency services specialists are working where the debris fell,” Sobyanin said on Telegram, without reporting any casualties or damage.

A “massive” drone attack also struck the Tula region, about 180km south of Moscow, Dmitry Milyaev, the region’s governor said.

“A private residential house was damaged in a settlement in Shchekino district, as a result of which a woman was wounded,” Milyaev said on Telegram.

Ukraine has stepped up its long-range drone strike campaign against Russia in recent months, particularly targeting energy infrastructure, with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of a vital source of revenue to fund its war effort, now in its fifth year.

A Ukrainian attack caused a fire last week at a refinery in the southeast of Moscow.