Russia shoots down 250 Ukrainian drones within 12 hours: Defence Ministry

Moscow: Russian air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 250 Ukrainian drones within 12 hours, said the Russian Defence Ministry.

From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday (Moscow time), Russian air defence systems shot down 250 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones across 19 regions, including Moscow, according to a statement released by the ministry.

Additionally, the number of drones flying toward the Moscow region over the past week has exceeded 2,600, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said, adding most of them were neutralised by air defences on the distant outskirts.

As many as 493 drones were destroyed while approaching Moscow, the mayor noted, reports Xinhua news agency.

Earlier on Friday, the Russian Defence Minister announced that Russian forces seized 11 settlements and conducted one massive and nine group strikes against Ukrainian military in the past week.

The 11 settlements are in three regions, namely Kharkiv, Donbas and Zaporizhzhia, according to the ministry.

The strikes targeted Ukrainian defence enterprises, logistics hubs, energy and transport infrastructure, facilities producing ground robotic systems, drones and related components, the ministry said.

It added that missile launch sites, ammunition and fuel depots, supply facilities, and temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries were also hit.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said Friday that the government had allocated 35 billion hryvnyas (about 785 million U.S. dollars) to protect energy facilities and strengthen regional resilience ahead of winter, according to public broadcaster Suspilne.

Addressing parliament, Shmyhal said construction of about 200 second-level protective monolithic structures had already been completed. While no defence system can provide 100-per-cent protection, damage to protected facilities can be repaired within weeks, he said.

IANS