Russia says it downed 150 Ukrainian drones over its territory in one day

MOSCOW — Russia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its air defense systems shot down 150 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions during a single day. According to a written statement, the interceptions took place between 08:00 and 20:00 Moscow time and involved fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. The ministry said the drones were downed over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk and Rostov regions, as well as over the Republic of Crimea, the Udmurt Republic, the Krasnodar and Perm regions, and the Black Sea. It described the aircraft as "fixed-wing enemy unmanned aerial vehicles" neutralized by air defense systems. Russia's daily tally of intercepted drones has risen sharply in recent months as Kyiv has expanded its long-range strike campaign against Russian territory. The 150 drones reported in a single day place the latest figures among the highest daily counts recorded since the start of the escalation in drone exchanges between the two sides.