Russian officials said Monday the country’s air defenses shot down Ukrainian drones over two regions of Russia, as well as over the Black Sea and the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that it intercepted two Ukrainian drones over the Kursk region, and two more over the Bryansk region. Both regions border Ukraine.
Roman Starovoyt, the Kursk regional governor, said several houses and an administrative building were damaged, but that there were no reports of casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said it destroyed four drones over Crimea and the northwestern part of the Black Sea.
Ukraine’s military said Monday that Russia attacked overnight with 19 drones, 12 cruise missiles and two anti-ship missiles.
Ukrainian air defenses downed all 19 of the Iran-made Shahed drones, as well as 11 of the cruise missiles, the military said.
One focus of the attack was the Odesa region in southern Ukraine, where officials said a woman was injured and there was damage to a warehouse and a private home.
Zelenskyy visit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described his visit to the U.S. and Canada last week as “very productive.”
In his nightly video address on Sunday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine secured defense aid from both countries.
He said the U.S. committed a defense package to Ukraine, including “artillery, necessary shells, HIMARS munitions, air defense missiles, additional air defense systems, tactical vehicles and more,” while Canada offered long-term defense support “worth half-a-billion U.S. dollars.”
Zelenskyy also called “historic” a decision by the U.S. to “jointly produce weapons and defense systems, in particular, air defense.”
The Ukrainian president said Ukraine’s collaboration with the U.S. will help create a much more powerful defense industry for his county and bolster Ukraine’s economy.
“Protection for our cities. Enterprises, new jobs for both our peoples – for Ukrainians and Americans. We have a clear perspective of a new resilience of Ukraine that will prevent the recurrence of Russian aggression – this is what we have already agreed on,” he said.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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