Russia downs 160 Ukrainian drones in last 24 hours: Defence ministry

Moscow, Aug 24 (IANS) Russia said that over the past 24 hours, it shot down four Ukrainian guided aerial bombs and 160 drones.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defence systems intercepted 33 Ukrainian drones over the country's western border regions, Xinhua news agency reported.

"On-duty air defense systems downed 13 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, 12 over the Bryansk Region and one over the Kaluga Region" between 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Moscow Time (0630 - 0900 GMT), said the ministry.

It added that 20 more fixed-wing drones were destroyed within the following two hours -- eight over Bryansk, seven over Smolensk, three over Kursk and two over Kaluga.

Earlier in August, Russia accused Ukraine of ramping up attacks ahead of the meeting between the US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

In a statement shared on X, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that 22 people have been killed and another 105 injured due to Ukraine's shelling and drone strikes over the past week. The ministry also shared a map marking the attacked areas in the Russian territory.

"With the Russia US Summit approaching, the Kyiv regime has stepped up its terrorist activity against Russian regions. Over the last week, 127 Russian citizens suffered from shelling and drone attacks. 22 died, 105 were wounded," said Alexei Fadeev, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Deputy Spokesperson.

--IANS

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