Russian air defences down dozens of Ukrainian drones, including two near St Petersburg

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(Reuters) -Russian air defence units downed dozens of Ukrainian drones in widely dispersed parts of the country, including two near the country’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, officials said.

Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of Leningrad region surrounding St. Petersburg, wrote on Telegram that two drones were downed in different districts south of the city.

He said no injuries or damage was reported. Operations were suspended for a time at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport.

The governor of Smolensk region in western Russia said anti-aircraft units had downed three drones without any casualties or damage. The governor of Voronezh region, next to Ukraine said “several” drones had been destroyed.

The Russian Defence Ministry reported a total of 42 drones destroyed over a three-hour period, 37 of them in three regions bordering Ukraine — Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk.

Ukraine has deployed drones increasingly in attacks on distant targets in Russian territory. In one spectacular set of strikes last month, in an operation dubbed “Spider’s Web”, a number of Russian bombers were hit at various air bases.

Russian forces have used increasing numbers of drones to target Ukrainian cities, with a record total of 539 drones and 11 missiles deployed against Kyiv on Thursday night, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his military had successfully deployed drone interceptors to down Russian drones in the overnight attack.

(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Nick Zieminski)