Russian air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 218 Ukrainian drones over regions of Russia and over the waters of the Azov and Black Seas, the Russian Defense Ministry said today, quoted by TASS, BTA reports.
"Tonight, from 20:00 Moscow time on October 2 this year to 08:00 Moscow time on October 3, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 218 Ukrainian unmanned aircraft of the aircraft type over the territories of Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Orel, Rostov, Ryazan, Smolensk and Tula regions, as well as over the Moscow region, Krasnodar region, (. . .) and over the waters of the Azov and Black Seas," the Russian military ministry said in a statement.
It was also reported that drones were shot down over the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula.
Russia will increase its attacks on Ukraine due to the approaching midterm elections for Congress in the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, quoted by Ukrinform.
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper “Pais“, Zelensky said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategy is to escalate the conflict as much as possible and that Moscow is already doing so. As the US midterm elections on November 3 approach, Putin will further intensify these actions, he warned.
In the past few weeks, Russia has increased its attacks, striking the Ukrainian capital Kiev both during the day and at night, including numerous civilian targets, Ukrinform notes.
Zelensky said that he believed Putin wanted to force people to leave the city.
This was also one of Russia's goals in its full-scale invasion in 2022, the Ukrainian president said. According to Zelensky, Russia wanted to force people to leave the capital to show that without a capital, Ukraine would not have a state. However, he stressed that Ukraine is much more than its capital, although Kiev continues to resist attacks.
According to Zelensky, Kiev has been subjected to between 300 and 500 attacks per day in recent weeks, which he said is related to the upcoming US elections.
He said that the Russians are attacking in an attempt to paralyze the city and prevent people from going to school or work. According to Zelensky, Russia is trying to plunge Ukraine into chaos.
The Ukrainian leader stressed that the targets of the Russian attacks include logistical infrastructure, including food and medical supplies, as well as agriculture and educational institutions. He believes the goal is simply to destroy people's ability to lead a normal life.
However, Russia is not afraid of Europe and the sanctions will not have a significant impact on it, with Moscow directing its messages primarily to the United States, he added.
Zelensky also said that during the visit of the Trump team for the negotiations in Kiev on September 6, he warned American representatives of upcoming massive Russian attacks. According to him, he indicated at the time that after the elections in Russia, which were held two weeks ago, Moscow would launch massive attacks that would directly affect the civilian population.