Russia Says Two Ukrainian Drones Downed Over Belgorod

Russia said it destroyed two Ukrainian drones close to the border in the Belgorod region on Monday, Sept.11. No casualties were reported.

The Ministry of Defence said the incident involved two unmanned aerial vehicles and took place around 1:20 am (2220 GMT Sunday).

"Air defence systems on duty destroyed two UAVs over the territory of Belgorod region," the ministry posted on Telegram.

Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the drones were "shot down" over the Yakovlevsky district, which lies to the north and west of Belgorod city.

"There were no casualties. Fragments of one of the drones fell on the roadway near a private residential building. All emergency services are on site," he wrote on Telegram.

Since Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in early June, Russia has weathered a wave of drone attacks in recent months that have sporadically damaged buildings, including in Moscow.

Russian officials have downplayed their significance.

Overnight into Thursday, two Ukrainian drones were destroyed above Rostov-on-Don in southwest Russia -- a major operational hub for Moscow's military in the Ukraine conflict.

One came down in the port city's historic centre, close to a key military headquarters.

The HQ was briefly taken over by Wagner mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin in late June. Prigozhin died with nine other people when a plane flying from Moscow to Saint Petersburg crashed in August.

Other Topics of Interest

‘You Will Be Left to Suffer and Die’: Rutte Warns Young Russians Against Fighting in Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte issued a stark appeal to young Russians not to fight in the war in Ukraine, saying they will be sent to the front with poor training, bad equipment and a high chance of being killed, wounded or abandoned. He backed his warning with NATO estimates that Russia is losing more than 30,000 soldiers a month – more in a single month than the Soviet Union lost during its entire 10-year war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.