Russia, Ukraine Exchange Blames Over Overnight Drone Strikes

(MENAFN) Russia and Ukraine on Thursday accused each other of carrying out drone attacks overnight that resulted in infrastructure damage.

Leningrad Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko reported on Telegram that a Ukrainian drone strike damaged an industrial zone in the Kirishsky district of the northwestern region. He added that, “based on preliminary information,” no casualties were reported and that 21 Ukrainian drones were repelled across the area.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed separately that its air defenses intercepted 125 Ukrainian drones across 13 regions, the Black Sea, and the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Ukraine, in turn, reported drone strikes within its territory. An Air Force statement on Telegram said that Ukrainian air defenses shot down 130 of 153 drones launched by Russia overnight.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said that the attacks damaged railway and port infrastructure, noting that drones hit locomotives at a maintenance facility in the central Kirovohrad region. “In southern Ukraine, hits on storage facilities and docks were recorded, and buildings of port operators and the maritime station were damaged,” he added.

Dnipropetrovsk Governor Oleksandr Hanzha also reported strikes on the city of Kryvyi Rih that damaged an infrastructure facility, providing no further details. He later confirmed that a multi-story building in the city of Dnipro had been damaged. "Preliminarily, there are casualties. The consequences are being clarified."

As of now, neither Russia nor Ukraine has officially responded to the opposing side’s claims.

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