The Russian Ministry of Defense reported the interception of 67 drones over the past night. “During the past night, duty air defense systems destroyed 67 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles,” follows from a publication on the Telegram channel of the defense department on Monday, December 8.
In particular, 24 UAVs were intercepted over the territory of the Bryansk region, 12 UAVs – over the territory of the Saratov region, 11 UAVs – over the territory Rostov region, 9 UAVs – over the territory of the Volgograd region, 2 UAVs – over the territory of the Kursk region, 2 UAVs – over the territory of the Leningrad region, 2 UAVs – over the territory of the Tula region, 2 UAVs – over the territory of the Moscow region, 1 UAV each over the territories of Kaluga, Oryol and Smolensk regions.
For flight safety, the Federal Air Transport Agency introduced restrictions at nine Russian airports, including the capital’s Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky. In the morning they resumed work.
UAV attacks on Russian regions began in 2022 against the backdrop of a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Kyiv has not officially confirmed its involvement, but in August 2023, the adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Mikhail Podolyak, said that the number of UAV strikes on Russia “will increase.”
In early March 2023, President Vladimir Zelensky said that the whole world is seeing the results of Ukraine’s use of its own drones against strategic targets in Russia. “I think everyone sees that our drones work. And they work long-range. Our long-range is a real approach to security for everyone,” the head of the Ukrainian state said in a video message after a massive drone attack on the regions of the Russian Federation, including the Moscow region.
Zelensky emphasized that “Ukraine will inflict retaliatory losses on the Russian state – quite rightly.”
In May 2023, a drone exploded over Senate Palace in the Kremlin, UAVs repeatedly hit the buildings of the Moscow City business center. The border Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions and annexed Crimea are also often targets.