Russia, Ukraine exchange major drone attacks on invasion anniversary
LONDON -- Russia launched 185 attack drones into Ukraine in an overnight attack coinciding with the third anniversary on Monday of Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor, as allied leaders gathered in Kyiv to express their solidarity with Ukraine.
Ukraine's air force said it tracked 185 Shahed attack drones of various types launched into the country from several directions. The air force said Ukrainian forces shot down 113 drones with 71 others lost in flight without causing any damage.
"As a result of the enemy attack, the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kyiv and Khmelnytskyi regions suffered," the air force said.
Sunday night's attack follows a record-breaking drone barrage on Saturday night, with Russia launching 267 UAVs into Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday, "Every day, our people stand against aerial terror."
Ukraine continued its own long-range strike campaign into Russia on Sunday night. The Russian Defense Ministry reported the downing of 22 Ukrainian drones over four Russian regions.
Local authorities in the Ryazan region -- neighboring the Moscow region to its southeast -- reported a fire at an industrial site that they said was caused by falling drone debris.
Pavel Malkov, the head of the regional administration, said in a post to Telegram that air defenses shot down two drones over the area. "Due to the falling debris, a fire broke out on the territory of one enterprise," Malkov said, adding that there were no casualties.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that the Ryazan oil refinery was targeted. ABC News could not immediately verify the claim.
"The refinery has a processing capacity of 17.1 million tons of oil per year, making it one of the five largest refineries in the Russian Federation," Kovalenko wrote. "It produces gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation kerosene, fuel oil and petrochemicals."
"Aviation fuel plays a special role, which is critically important for the front-line aviation of the Russian army and strategic long-range aviation, which strikes Ukraine," Kovalenko said. "This is the third attack on the plant since the beginning of the year."
