OMM Newsroom
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday that 1,214 Ukrainian drones targeted 20 Russian regions overnight. Anadolu Agency reported the ministry’s figures.
The reported total exceeded the previous record cited by Russia: 1,110 drones launched from Ukraine on Sept. 20.
“During the past night, air defence duty forces intercepted and destroyed 1,214 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles,” the ministry said in a statement.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said 613 drones targeted the capital region. Most were neutralised by Defence Ministry air defences on distant approaches, he said on the Russian social media platform “Max”.
Sobyanin added that 231 drones were destroyed while approaching Moscow.
Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said temporary restrictions on arrivals and departures were imposed at Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports “to ensure flight safety”. The restrictions were later lifted.
A source in air traffic control services told the “TASS” news agency that two planes flying from Istanbul to Moscow turned back in mid-air and returned to Istanbul because of the restrictions at Vnukovo.
Restrictions were also imposed at airports in 18 other Russian cities, according to the report. Ukraine has not issued a statement on the claims, which could not be independently verified amid the ongoing conflict.
