MOSCOW/KIEV, July 6– Russia said on Monday that its air defense systems downed 519 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones overnight, while Kiev reported that a Russian missile and drone attack on the capital left at least 11 people dead and dozens injured.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the drones were shot down over 20 regions, including the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Kaluga, Leningrad, Moscow, Rostov and Yaroslavl regions. Regional authorities said a woman was killed in the city of Kerch in Crimea, with several others injured in Crimea and the Yaroslavl region.
In the Kaluga region, a drone strike sparked a fire at an industrial enterprise in the Dzerzhinsky District, with no casualties reported after evacuation, according to Governor Vladislav Shapsha.
Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said 56 drones were shot down over the region, adding that infrastructure at the Luga training ground and near the ports of Ust-Luga and Vysotsk was damaged. No casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its armed forces carried out a large-scale overnight strike on military-related targets in Kiev and other Ukrainian regions using drones and long-range precision weapons.
According to the ministry, the strikes targeted military-industrial enterprises, energy infrastructure in Kiev and the Kiev region, and military airfield infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkasy, Chernihiv and Kiev regions.
Ukrainian authorities said at least 11 people were killed and 46 others injured in the attack on Kiev, marking the second heavy strike on the Ukrainian capital in less than a week. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 27 of the injured, including three children, were hospitalized.
The city administration said residential buildings were damaged across multiple districts, with cleanup operations underway at more than 20 sites. The Kiev Regional Military Administration said 15 more people were injured in the surrounding region.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 351 drones and 68 missiles overnight, adding that 326 drones and 37 missiles were intercepted. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
