Russia claims it downed 2 Ukrainian drones over Saratov, Voronezh regions

Russia claimed on Wednesday that it downed two Ukrainian drones over the country's Saratov and Voronezh regions, as both Moscow and Kyiv continue to accuse each other of carrying out airstrikes that have intensified since Dec. 29.


In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that it thwarted an attempt by Ukraine to carry out an attack on the country's territory using an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle.

"Air defense systems destroyed a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Saratov region," the statement said.


In another statement, the ministry said that Ukraine attempted to conduct a similar attack at around 2:30 p.m. Moscow time (1130GMT), during which air defense systems destroyed a drone over the Voronezh region.


Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the claims.


Both Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged accusations over airstrikes against each other that intensified since late December, when at least 40 people were killed in various regions of Ukraine in a massive air attack, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as the "heaviest attack" since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

On Jan. 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country will not let "a single crime of this kind" go unpunished following a subsequent raid on the Russian city of Belgorod, which killed 25 people and wounded many others.