"Over the past night, air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 69 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles," the ministry said in a statement.
The statement added that 24 drones were shot down over the Bryansk Region, 18 over Crimea, 14 over the Smolensk Region, three each over the Tula and Oryol Regions, as well as over the Black Sea, and one drone each over the Kursk, Kaluga, Belgorod and Moscow Regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously noted that Ukrainian forces are sending hundreds of drones to strike Russian territory. He emphasized that the Kiev regime is deliberately targeting civilians in the regions, attacking civilian infrastructure and transport, including ambulances and agricultural machinery. The head of state described the methods used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Kiev's foreign mercenaries as terrorist.