The Russian defence ministry reported on Sunday that its air defence systems had successfully downed 125 Ukrainian drones during the previous night. In a separate incident, a residential apartment in the western city of Voronezh was struck, according to the local governor.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the western region of Belgorod, detailed the drone and shelling attacks over the past 24 hours, stating that one man had died in the border town of Shebekino, while eight civilians were injured in the broader region. As Russia continues its advance in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has escalated the conflict by launching cross-border attacks into Russia's western Kursk region, which began on August 6, and by conducting increasingly large-scale drone assaults deep into Russian territory.
The defence ministry highlighted that the recent attacks were primarily focused on the southern Volgograd region, where 67 drones were shot down. Additionally, 17 drones were intercepted over both the Belgorod and Voronezh regions, and 18 were downed over the Rostov region. Alexander Gusev, the governor of the Voronezh region, mentioned on the Telegram messaging app that a drone had crashed into a residential complex, causing a fire. Preliminary information indicated that the blaze had been contained and no injuries were reported.
The Mash Telegram channel shared a video purportedly showing a fire engulfing the top floor of a high-rise building in Voronezh. However, Reuters was unable to immediately verify the authenticity of the footage.