Russia's air defense assets have destroyed 146 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions in six hours, the Defense Ministry reported on its Max channel.
“On May 2, from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Moscow time, air defense assets on duty intercepted and destroyed 146 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles“, the statement said.
The drones were shot down over Belgorod, Bryansk, Vologda, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Novgorod, Oryol, Smolensk, Tula, Chelyabinsk and Moscow regions.
Ukrainian Drones have struck the Black Sea port of Tuapse, causing a new fire at the oil terminal. This is the fourth such attack on the facility in a week.
These attacks are part of Ukraine's systematic strategy to weaken Russia's capacity to refine and export fuels that finance the military effort.
The main strikes were aimed at the Rosneft offshore oil terminal and refinery.
On the night of May 1, Ukrainian drones started a fire in oil tanks, which continued to be contained.
Previous attacks from late April (April 20 and 28) had already damaged infrastructure and led to an oil spill in the Black Sea.
While there were no reports of casualties in the May 1 attack, the April 20 strike killed one person and wounded another.
Tuapse is becoming a regular target of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of the strategy to undermine Russian energy logistics in the Black Sea.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia has used a total of about 1,600 drones and 1,100 guided bombs against Ukrainian targets in the past week. Over 400 drone launches from the Russian side were recorded in the previous 24 hours alone.