"This past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 51 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles," the statement said.
It said 12 drones were downed over the Saratov Region, 11 over the Volgograd Region, eight over the Rostov Region, six over Crimea, four over the Bryansk Region, four over the Voronezh Region, three over the Belgorod Region, one over the Kursk Region, one over the Black Sea and one over the Sea of Azov.