Russia claims drone attack by Ukraine on Crimea thwarted, 42 drones destroyed

Russia on Friday (August 25) said that Ukraine used 42 drones overnight to attack Russia-annexed Crimea, however, all its attempts were thwarted by Moscow's forces.

"Nine UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were destroyed... over the territory of the Republic of Crimea. 33 UAVs were suppressed by electronic warfare and crashed without reaching the target," wrote Russia's defence ministry on Telegram.

The ministry did not specify whether they suffered any damage or had any casualties.

Missile attack in Kaluga

Earlier, Russia claimed that a missile attack carried out by Ukraine in the Kaluga region, which is southwest of Moscow, was thwarted by its air defences and many drones were also destroyed near Crimea, as no damage or casualties were reported.

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A missile sent by Kyiv "was detected and destroyed by air defence systems over the territory of Kaluga region," said Moscow's defence ministry, in a statement.

Kaluga is near Moscow which has been facing drone attacks almost on a daily basis, as per the Russian authorities.

On Friday (August 25), the TASS news agency said that the authorities had closed the airspace above Moscow's Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports, citing aviation services and without specifically explaining why.

"Several UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were destroyed over the sea in the area of Cape Khersones" in Crimea, wrote Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol on Telegram.

The Cape is towards the southwest of the Crimea peninsula, close to Sevastopol, where the Black Sea fleet of Russia is present.

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Emergency services informed that the civilian infrastructure did not suffer any damage, said Razvozhayev, adding: "All forces and services are in a state of combat readiness."

Russia was annexed by Crimea in 2014 and has been Ukraine's target throughout Moscow's offensive. However, in recent weeks, it has come under more increased, intense attacks. Kyiv has repeatedlystated that it plans on taking Crimea back.

Ukraine on Thursday said that its forces had flown the flag of the country in Russian-annexed Crimea amid a "special operation" on the occasion of its second wartime Independence Day.

Kyiv on Wednesday claimed that a powerful Russian S-400 anti-aircraft system was destroyed in the area, which it stated inflicted a "painful blow" on Moscow's air defences.

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