Russia says downed hundreds of drones from Ukraine

MOSCOW: Russia said Saturday it intercepted hundreds of Ukrainian drones including near Saint Petersburg, where Moscow is hosting a major economic forum, as Ukraine reported at least three people killed by Russian strikes.

Moscow and Kyiv have intensified drone strikes on each other in recent months as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war, now in its fifth year, remain stalled over the conflict in the Middle East.

The Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) — once dubbed “Russia’s Davos” — ends on Saturday, a day after the event featured a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Eighty-six UAVs have been shot down over Leningrad region. Combat operations continue,” said Aleksandr Drozdenko, governor of the region whose major city is Saint Petersburg and which also includes key Baltic ports.

On the first day of the summit, Ukrainian drones hit an oil complex and military base in Saint Petersburg, which is also Putin’s home city.

Overnight, Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence downed a total of 376 Ukrainian drones “over Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Leningrad, Novgorod, Oryol, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver, and Tula regions, Moscow region, Crimea Republic, Abkhazia Republic, and over the waters of the Azov and Black Seas”.

In southern Ukraine, authorities found the bodies of two men who had been unaccounted for following an attack on Zaporizhzhia, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.

One person was killed and three wounded in Russian drone and artillery attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha wrote on Telegram.

A fire broke out at an oil depot in the city of Ust-Labinsk in southern Russia following a drone attack, according to local authorities, with no reports of wounded.

Russian forces also downed nine Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Saturday, according to earlier updates by the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin.