Russia said it destroyed nearly two dozen Ukrainian drones trying to attack annexed Crimea and patrol ships in the Black Sea on Thursday.
“At about 5:00 am, the Ukrainian armed forces attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Sergey Kotov in the Black Sea with five unmanned sea boats,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said on the messaging app Telegram.
“While repelling the attack, the five unmanned enemy boats were destroyed by gunfire from the ship,” it added.
Crimea has been targeted by Ukraine throughout Russia’s invasion, but attacks in recent weeks have intensified as Kyiv vows to take the Black Sea peninsula back.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also reported drone attacks from the air, saying that at around 5:30 am on Thursday, “air defense systems on duty destroyed 11 unmanned aerial vehicles” over the Crimean peninsula.
It did not say whether either the seaborne or air attacks caused any casualties or damage.
Earlier, Russia said that during the night from Wednesday to Thursday it had destroyed multiple Ukrainian drones targeting its border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod.
The Defense Ministry said six drones had been shot down in four separate locations over the Bryansk region, which is located around 400 kilometers southwest of Moscow.
Another drone was destroyed further south over the Belgorod region on Wednesday evening.
