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Russia, Ukraine Trade Barrage of Drones03/25 06:02
Russian air defenses downed 389 incoming Ukrainian drones, Russia's Defense
Ministry said Wednesday, in what was the largest reported overnight attack on
Russian regions and Crimea since Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine more than four
years ago.
(AP) -- Russian air defenses downed 389 incoming Ukrainian drones, Russia's
Defense Ministry said Wednesday, in what was the largest reported overnight
attack on Russian regions and Crimea since Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine more
than four years ago.
The drones were stopped over 13 Russian regions as well as the Crimean
Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The attack underlined the growing capability of Ukraine's domestically
developed and manufactured long-range drones.
It came a day after Russia fired almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles at
civilian areas of Ukraine in the space of 24 hours, extending its usual
nighttime barrage into daylight hours in one of its biggest aerial attacks of
the war. At least six people were killed and around 50 people were injured,
Ukrainian authorities said.
The United Nations cultural organization UNESCO on Wednesday said it was
"deeply alarmed" by Russia hitting a World Heritage site in the western Ukraine
city of Lviv during that bombardment.
The escalation in aerial attacks comes amid a pause in U.S.-mediated talks
between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv, as Washington's attention is diverted
by the Iran war and as Ukraine anticipates a spring offensive by Russia's
bigger army.
Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region north of Moscow, said
56 drones were shot down there, and a fire broke out in the Baltic Sea port of
Ust-Luga as the result of Ukraine's attack.
Ukrainian forces also carried out a missile strike on the Belgorod region on
the border with Ukraine overnight, damaging energy infrastructure, its Gov.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Power, water and heating supplies were disrupted, he
said.
The Ukrainian drone blitz caught public attention in the Baltic states,
which lie northwest of Ukraine and relatively close to potential Russian
targets in the Leningrad region, which includes St. Petersburg, where drones
came down.
Officials in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which have been close allies of
Ukraine in the war, said the drones likely didn't target them.
Estonian media reported that a drone coming from Russia clipped a power
plant's chimney early Wednesday but said electricity production was not
disrupted. The plant is around 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the port of
Ust-Luga that Ukraine targeted.
Also Wednesday, the Latvian defense ministry said a drone had crashed in a
region close to Russia. No injuries or damage were reported.
Lithuanian officials said a stray Ukrainian drone crashed into a frozen lake
near the Belarusian border on Monday.
In Moldova, on Ukraine's southwest border, authorities on Tuesday urged
citizens to spare electrical energy during peak hours, after Russian strikes on
Ukraine's energy grid cut a key power line between Moldova and Romania.
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