36 Ukrainian drones shot down off Crimea: Russia

Kyiv, October 29

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Russian air defence shot down over 30 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula overnight Saturday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

“The air defence systems in place destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula,” the ministry wrote on Telegram. Local authorities in the southern Krasnodar region bordering the Black Sea said a fire broke out at an oil refinery in the early hours of Sunday, but did not specify the cause. “The reasons for the incident are being established,” a statement from local authorities said, amid claims in local media outlets that the fire had been caused by a drone strike or debris from a downed drone.

Drone strikes and shelling on the Russian border regions and Moscow-annexed Crimea are a regular occurrence. Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for attacks on Russian territory or the Crimean peninsula. In Ukraine, the country’s air force said on Sunday it had shot down five Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia overnight.

Close to the front line in the country’s east, where Ukrainian and Russian forces are locked in a battle for control, four police officers were wounded when a shell fired by Russian troops exploded by their police car at Siversk in Donetsk province.

Also on Sunday, a prominent ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia might take action to seize assets of European Union member states it considers hostile if the EU proceeds with its plan to “steal” frozen Russian funds to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction efforts.

“A number of European politicians have once again started talking about stealing our country’s frozen funds in order to continue the militarisation of Kyiv,” Vyacheslav Volodin, the Chairman of the State Duma, said. — AP