"This past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 53 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles," the statement said.
It said 13 drones were shot down over the Kursk Region, 11 over the Rostov Region, seven over the Samara Region, six over the Belgorod Region, five over the Oryol Region, four over the Bryansk and Voronezh regions each, one over the Saratov Region, one over Kalmykia and one over the Sea of Azov.