Kiev’s forces have launched more than 30 unmanned aerial vehicles targeting the peninsula, the Russian Defense Ministry has said
The Russian troops have thwarted several Ukrainian drone attacks on the Crimean Peninsula, the nation’s defense ministry said in a series of statements on Friday.
Kiev’s forces first launched 26 “aircraft-type” unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) targeting Crimea on Friday evening, the ministry said, adding that all of the drones were destroyed over the territory of the peninsula by the Russian air defenses.
The Ukrainian forces then launched the second attack on Crimea, involving another six drones, which were downed as well, the ministry said in a separate statement. The Russian military reported no casualties or material damage linked to the Ukrainian air raids.
Earlier on Friday, the Ukrainian forces also sought to launch a drone attack on the Russian Kursk region bordering Ukraine. The Russian defenses were able to thwart it as well by shooting down two UAVs, the ministry said.
Kiev has stepped up missile and drone attacks on Crimea over the past months. In September, Ukraine struck a shipyard in Sevastopol with cruise missiles, damaging two naval vessels, according to the Russian military. Nine days later, a missile struck the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.
In October, dozens of Ukrainian drones were spotted and destroyed over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of Crimea. Another “swarm of drones” was destroyed by the Russian air defenses over the Sea of Azov and the peninsula in early December.
On Thursday, Kiev also attempted to launch a drone attack on Moscow. The Russian air defenses downed UAVs near the Russian capital, its mayor, Sergey Sobyanin said at that time.
Earlier, the Ukrainian general in charge of UAV operations, Sergey Baranov, said Kiev was preparing for a large-scale drone bombing campaign against Russia this winter.
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