Russia Claims to Have Intercepted 36 Ukrainian Drones Amid Ongoing Conflict in Eastern Ukraine

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that its air defense units neutralized 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula during the previous night.

The statement, released via the ministry’s Telegram channel, indicated that the air defense apparatus had taken down the drones over the northwestern segment of Crimea and the Black Sea.

Simultaneously, reports emerged of a fire at an oil refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, which borders the Black Sea. Local officials have initiated an investigation into the incident, and while they have not confirmed the cause, speculation in local media suggests it could have been triggered by either debris from a downed drone or a drone attack itself.

Occurrences of drone strikes and artillery fire near Russia’s border regions and in Crimea, which Russia annexed, are not uncommon. Ukrainian authorities have consistently refrained from admitting to any responsibility for such attacks on Russian soil or on the Crimean Peninsula.

In a counter-announcement, Ukraine’s air force confirmed on Sunday that they had intercepted five Iranian-manufactured Shahed drones, which they claim were launched by Russian forces overnight.

Near the ongoing frontline in Eastern Ukraine, four local law enforcement officers sustained injuries when a projectile, allegedly fired by Russian military personnel, detonated near their patrol vehicle in the city of Siversk, part of the partially occupied Donetsk province.

In a separate update, UK intelligence over the weekend suggested that Russia had experienced its highest rate of casualties this year due to protracted and indecisive engagements around the town of Avdiivka, also in the Donetsk region. The UK Ministry of Defence stated in its Saturday intelligence briefing that Russia had deployed components of as many as eight brigades in the vicinity since initiating a significant military push in mid-October.

Furthermore, on Sunday, Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma, Russia’s lower legislative chamber, cautioned that Russia might resort to confiscating assets belonging to European Union member nations that it deems antagonistic. This warning came in response to a proposal made on Friday by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, to utilize revenue from frozen Russian state assets to assist Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.

Volodin’s statement underscored that Moscow would retaliate with measures that would impose substantial economic penalties on the EU, should it proceed with actions against Russian assets, a significant chunk of which are located in Belgium. “If such an action is taken, Russia would respond in kind, leading to a greater number of assets from adversarial nations being seized compared to our frozen assets in Europe,” Volodin noted.

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More about Russia-Ukraine Conflict

• Russian Defense Ministry’s Announcement on Ukrainian Drones
• Investigation into Krasnodar Oil Refinery Fire
• Ukraine’s Air Force Statement on Intercepting Drones
• Report on Police Casualties in Siversk, Donetsk Province
• British Intelligence Assessment on Russian Casualties
• European Commission Proposal on Frozen Russian Assets
• Statement by Vyacheslav Volodin on Potential Asset Seizure