Last night, Russian air defenses destroyed a total of 162 Ukrainian drones, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The most were shot down over Kursk region - 57, and 16 drones were destroyed over Voronezh region, Reuters reported, citing posts by local governors on "Telegram", BTA reports.
According to Voronezh region governor Alexander Gusev, debris from the downed drones damaged power lines, some of which fell onto the M4 highway - the main highway connecting Moscow with Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar. A short section of the road was temporarily closed due to the incident. Damage was also caused to the facades of several residential buildings.
In Kursk Oblast, according to Governor Alexander Khinshtein, drone debris fell on private homes, causing fires in residential areas.
Both governors reported that no one was injured in the attacks.
The intense night-time strikes by both sides come against the backdrop of an expected second round of Russian-Ukrainian peace talks, which are due to begin at 1pm today in Istanbul. This is another attempt to achieve an end to the conflict, which has been going on for more than three years, Reuters emphasizes.