MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. Air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 726 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov overnight, the Defense Ministry reported.
Authorities have declared air raid alerts in 21 Russian regions since the start of the day due to missile and drone attacks. The Republic of Crimea has introduced power restrictions following damage to regional infrastructure.
In Russia’s central Ulyanovsk Region, a man was seriously wounded. In Russia’s southwestern Belgorod Region, a drone struck a car, injuring two civilians.
TASS has compiled the main information on the aftermath.
Scale
- On-duty air defense systems downed a total of 726 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles between 8:00 p.m. Moscow time (5:00 p.m. GMT) on August 19 and 8:00 a.m. Moscow time (5:00 a.m. GMT) on August 20, the Defense Ministry said.
- According to the ministry, drones were brought down over the Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Samara, Saratov, Tambov, Tula, Ulyanovsk, Moscow and Krasnodar Regions, the Republic of Crimea, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
- Authorities have declared air raid alerts due to drone and missile attacks since early morning in Russia’s Central, Southern, and Volga federal districts, covering 21 regions, according to TASS estimates.
- According to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, 250 drones were heading toward the Moscow Region between 8:30 p.m. Moscow time (5:30 p.m. GMT) on August 19 and 7:30 a.m. Moscow time (4:30 a.m. GMT) on August 20.
- Air defenses shot down roughly 90 Ukrainian UAVs overnight over six districts of the Rostov Region, Governor Yury Slyusar reported.
- Air defense systems destroyed 21 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Voronezh Region, Governor Alexander Gusev wrote on his Max channel.
- According to Governor Dmitry Milyaev, air defenses intercepted 19 Ukrainian drones over the Tula Region.
- An attack by 11 drones was fended off in the Ulyanovsk Region, Governor Alexey Russkikh wrote on his Max channel.
- Air defense forces brought down 12 UAVs over the Kaluga Region during the night, Governor Vladislav Shapsha said on his Max channel.
Aftermath in regions
- Falling drone debris damaged the roof, facade, windows, and utility lines of a private house in a southern district of the Voronezh Region, Gusev said.
- A young man suffered a head injury in the Ulyanovsk Region, Russkikh reported.
- He is in serious condition and is receiving all necessary medical assistance, with the regional Health Ministry providing the governor with hourly updates on his condition, Russkikh said.
- A transmission tower was also damaged in the Novospassky District of the Ulyanovsk Region.
- A repair crew is working to repair the transmission tower. The power supply has not been interrupted.
- According to preliminary data, drone debris shattered windows of eight private houses and an outbuilding in a settlement in the Lyudinovsky District of the Kaluga Region, Shapsha reported.
- A drone attack damaged windows of a private house in a settlement in the region’s Dzerzhinsky District.
Attacks on the Belgorod Region
- A drone struck a car in the village of Gruzskoye in the Borisovsky District, injuring two civilians, the Belgorod Region’s emergency response center reported.
- A man with leg shrapnel wounds and a woman with hand burns have been taken to Belgorod City Hospital No. 2.
- The emergency response center added that a drone attack damaged a car and a private house in the Borisovsky District.
- In the Belgorodsky District, a car was hit in the settlement of Golovino. In the village of Otradnoye, a drone attack started a fire in a private house and damaged the roof and windows of another house.
- An infrastructure facility was damaged in the village of Oktyabrskoye.
- In the Rakityansky District, several settlements are without power as a result of a Ukrainian attack on an infrastructure site. Repair crews will start the restoration work during daylight hours.
- In the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in the Shebekinsky District, several private houses, a garage and an outbuilding were damaged. In the town of Shebekino, several houses and six cars were hit, with one of them catching fire.
Aftermath in Crimea
- Authorities have introduced power supply restrictions across the Republic of Crimea after Ukrainian drones damaged the region’s energy infrastructure overnight, the republic’s state power utility Krymenergo said on its Telegram channel.
- Power has been cut off in several settlements in the southern, central, and western power districts. The situation remains difficult in the northwest and east of Crimea.
- Social facilities continue operating on backup power systems.
- Power will be cut off from 9:00 a.m. Moscow time (6:00 a.m. GMT) to 4:00 p.m. Moscow time (1:00 p.m. GMT) in Crimea’s central power district for infrastructure repairs.
- Yevpatoria Acting Mayor Vitaly Oganesyan said on his Telegram channel that kindergartens will operate on a shortened schedule on Thursday.