Russia Says It Shot Down Ukrainian Drone Over Belgorod Region

MOSCOW: Russian air defence claimed that it has foiled Ukraine's attack in the Belgorod region, as Moscow shot the Ukrainian drone, TASS News Agency reported citing Defense Ministry. "Today, at about 5:30 pm (Moscow Time), the Kyiv regime’s attempt to carry out a terrorist attack with one unmanned aerial vehicle on targets on the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted. Russian air defences detected the unmanned aerial vehicle and destroyed it over the Belgorod Region," the ministry said, adding that there was neither damage nor casualties as a result of the foiled attack.

Earlier, Russia claimed that its air defence system detected and intercepted Ukraine's S-200 missile system, which was converted into a strike version. "On August 12, at around 1:00 p.m. Moscow time, the Kyiv regime attempted to launch a terrorist strike on the Crimean bridge with the S-200 surface-to-air guided weapon converted into a strike version. The Ukrainian missile was promptly detected and intercepted in the air by Russia’s air defence system," TASS News Agency quoted the ministry as saying.

The incident caused no damage or casualties, it added. Meanwhile, Governor of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov on his Telegram channel said that two Ukrainian missiles have been shot down by the air defence system in the area of the Kerch Strait, adding that the bridge was not affected, reported TASS News Agency.

"Two enemy missiles were shot down by the air defence system in the area of the Kerch Strait. The Crimean Bridge was not affected," he wrote. The attacks in the Crimea region have become very common. Earlier, in July, Moscow alleged that Ukraine launched 17 drones toward Crimea overnight, and referred to it as a “terrorist attack.”

The ministry said 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) "were suppressed by means of radio-electronic warfare". Three of the drones were shot down by Russian air defences, while three fell into the Crimean peninsula and 11 of the drones fell into the Black Sea, CNN quoted the Russian Ministry of Defense as saying.“There were no casualties,” the MOD added.

A Russian ammunition depot was also hit by the Ukrainian drone attack in Crimea, CNN reported.