MOSCOW — Russia’s Defense Ministry says its air defenses brought down 856 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian regions and the Black Sea. In Yaroslavl, two workers at an oil refinery were hurt, the regional governor said.
For the Moscow region, it was one of the biggest drone attacks in six months. That’s the estimate of the Russian news agency TASS, based on numbers from Mayor Sergey Sobyanin. TASS reported that 493 drones were detected heading toward the capital between 8:30 p.m. Moscow time (5:30 p.m. GMT) on Nov. 2 and 7:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. GMT) on Nov. 3.
Most were brought down far from the city, Sobyanin wrote on the Max social media platform. He put the number destroyed near Moscow at 184.
The ministry described the aircraft as fixed-wing drones. Besides Crimea and the Black Sea, it listed 14 regions where they were downed: Bryansk, Belgorod, Vladimir, Kaluga, Kursk, Novgorod, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver, Tula, Yaroslavl and Moscow.
The figures come from Russian officials and could not be independently verified.
Refinery fire and damage
In Yaroslavl, 124 drones took part in an attempted attack on the city’s oil refinery, regional Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said on Max. He said the attack was repelled.
Two refinery employees suffered shrapnel wounds and were hospitalized, according to Yevrayev. The facility’s infrastructure was damaged, and a fire broke out at the site.
Falling debris also blew out windows in several apartment buildings and private homes, the governor added. Several private cars were damaged.
Other regions report strikes
In the Kaluga region, Governor Vladislav Shapsha reported 65 drones destroyed. They came down over the suburbs of Kaluga and the Babyninsky, Borovsky, Dzerzhinsky, Zhizdrinsky, Zhukovsky, Kirovsky, Lyudinovsky and Peremyshlsky districts, he wrote.
Tula Governor Dmitry Milyayev said 38 drones were shot down over his region. In the south, Governor Yury Slyusar wrote on Max that drones were also destroyed in three Rostov districts: Matveyevo-Kurgansky, Millerovsky and Tarasovsky.
Back in Yaroslavl, emergency teams were still battling the refinery fire.
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