Air defences down 12 Ukrainian drones in the space of an hour in southern region, governor says

(Reuters) – Russian air defence units intercepted 12 Ukrainian drones in the space of an hour late on Friday over southern Russia’s border region of Bryansk, the regional governor said.

“Thanks to our valiant defenders, all airborne targets were intercepted and destroyed,” Governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

There were no casualties or serious damage reported.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod region, also on Ukraine’s border further to the southeast, said three drone attacks and a number of shelling incidents had smashed windows and caused some other damage to buildings.

Ukrainian forces have regularly attacked Russian border regions, particularly Belgorod, in a bid to reduce Russian strikes on targets inside Ukraine’s border.

The attacks prompted the Kremlin to launch a cross-border incursion into the Kharkiv region in May, with Russian military officials saying they seized a number of settlements. Ukrainian officials say the situation there has stabilised.

Gladkov and other officials restricted access this week to parts of Belgorod region to guard against Ukrainian attacks.