In a dramatic escalation of hostilities, Ukraine’s air force announced on Saturday that Russia launched 74 drones at Ukrainian targets the previous night, while Moscow accused Kyiv of using drones to strike several Russian regions.
According to Ukrainian air forces, 47 of the Russian drones were intercepted and destroyed, while 27 others disappeared from radar and did not reach their intended targets. The Ukrainian military reported damage to buildings and vehicles in seven regions, though no casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, Moscow claimed that Ukrainian drones had struck two residential houses in the town of Kotovsk, located about 480 kilometers southeast of Moscow, in the Tambov region, injuring at least three people. This attack was reported by regional leader Evgeniy Pervishov on Telegram.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense stated it had intercepted and destroyed 85 Ukrainian drones over the night in several regions of the country, including 31 drones over the Black Sea, 16 in the Voronezh and Krasnodar regions, and 14 over the Sea of Azov.
Rosaviatsiya, Russia’s aviation oversight agency, reported that airports in the cities of Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, and Ulyanovsk, located in the Volga River region, temporarily halted flights. Flight operations were later suspended in the city of Saratov.
On January 11, Russia accused Ukraine of a missile strike on a supermarket in Donetsk, a city under Russian control in eastern Ukraine, further intensifying the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
