Air defense forces destroyed 44 Ukrainian UAVs overnight over Russian regions

Russian air defenses destroyed 44 unmanned aerial vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) overnight over Russian regions. This was reported by the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday, November 20.

"On-duty air defense means destroyed and intercepted 44 Ukrainian UAVs of airplane type," the ministry said in a statement.

It is specified that 20 drones were shot down over the territory of the Novgorod region, five UAVs - in the sky over the Kursk region, four - over the Orel region. Three drones each were shot down over Belgorod, Tula and Tver regions and two were destroyed over the territories of Bryansk, Moscow and Smolensk regions.

Earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry reported that air defense forces shot down 42 UAVs over the territories of six regions of the Russian Federation. Thus, 32 Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed over the territory of the Bryansk region, five over the territory of the Smolensk region, two over the territory of the Moscow region, and one drone was shot down over the territories of the Kursk, Orel and Rostov regions.

The AFU is trying to strike Russian territories against the background of the special operation in Donbass, the start of which was announced on February 24, 2022. The decision was taken due to the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.