Russia’s defense ministry said Monday the country’s air defenses shot down 36 Ukrainian aerial drones that were involved in attacks on Russian regions along the border with Ukraine.
The ministry said Russian forces downed 18 drones over the Bryansk region, nine over the Kursk region and nine more over Belgorod.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Belgorod, reported damage to houses in two villages, and said on Telegram that several areas were without power after the attacks.
The governors of Bryansk and Kursk each said there were no reported injuries or damage in their areas.
Russia also claimed battlefield gains Monday, saying its forces had taken control of the village of Stepova Novoselivka in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region and Novopokrovka in the eastern region of Donetsk.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the situation in Kharkiv or Donetsk.
Ukraine’s air force issued missile alerts Monday in southern and eastern Ukraine, which are frequent targets of Russian drone attacks.
Serhiy Lysak, the regional governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said Monday on Telegram that Russian forces attacked with missiles and artillery, with a missile strike in the city of Dnipro injuring seven people.
Lysak said Russian attacks late Sunday included artillery and kamikaze drones that damaged several buildings and a gas pipeline in Nikopol.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his calls late Sunday for countries providing military aid to Ukraine to further relax restrictions on Ukrainian forces using Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.
“Clear decisions are needed to help protect our people,” he said. “Long-range strikes and modern air defense are the foundation for stopping the daily Russian terror. I thank all our partners who understand this.”
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
