Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 85 Ukrainian drones overnight across several regions, as Kyiv’s long-range drone campaign continues to strike deep inside Russian territory.

In an official statement, the ministry reported that between 11:30 p.m. on November 3 and 7:00 a.m. on November 4 (Moscow time), air defense units detected and destroyed 85 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) launched from Ukrainian positions.

According to the breakdown provided by the ministry, 40 drones were intercepted over the Voronezh region, 20 in Nizhny Novgorod, 10 in Belgorod, 6 in Kursk, 4 in Lipetsk, 2 in Volgograd, 2 in Bashkortostan, and one in the Saratov region.

Russian officials accused Ukraine of targeting civilian areas and infrastructure, while reiterating that Moscow’s military operations are limited to Ukrainian military facilities, defense industry sites, and ammunition depots.

Earlier in the day, authorities in Bashkortostan confirmed that two Ukrainian drones had targeted an industrial facility in the city of Sterlitamak, roughly 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Both drones were shot down, but an explosion near the Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant caused partial damage to its water treatment system. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.

Analysts say Ukraine’s increasing use of domestically produced long-range drones has revealed weaknesses in Russia’s air defense network, enabling Kyiv to strike industrial and logistical sites far from the front lines.

The Russian Defense Ministry reiterated that its “special military operation,” launched in February 2022, continues with the stated objective of protecting the people of Donbas from what it describes as “years of aggression and persecution by Kyiv.”

The escalating drone exchanges highlight the growing technological dimension of the war, as both sides increasingly rely on unmanned systems in their military strategies. (ILKHA)