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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
William Mata

Putin's Russian troops destroy more than 50 Ukrainian drones in overnight attack

Drones explode as they are being destroyed by Ukrainian air defence during mass night strike to Ukrainian capital of Kyiv (file image) - (AFP via Getty Images)

Russia's air defence units destroyed more than 50 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry said early on Sunday.

The drones were destroyed over Russia's southern regions of Voronezh, Bryansk, Oryol, Lipetsk and Belgorod, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

One woman was moderately injured as a result of the drone attack on the border region of Belgorod, the region's governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Telegram. He added that a few cars were also damaged.

Maxim Yegorov, governor of the Tambov region, some 450 km (280 miles) southeast of Moscow, said a Ukrainian drone fell onto the Michurinsky district of the region, sparking a short-lived fire but causing no injuries or material damage.

The Russian defence ministry reports only how manydronesits units destroy, not how many Ukraine launches. Russian officials also rarely disclose the full scale of damage inflicted by the attacks, especially when they involve military or energy infrastructure.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has often said that its attacks inside Russia target infrastructure key to Russian war efforts and are in response to Moscow's continued strikes on Ukrainian territory.

Earlier reports said that at least 30 drones had been shot down but by 5.20 GMT the number had risen to 51, according to a report by Reuters.

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