Continued mutual attacks between Russia and Ukraine
The last day of Russia’s presidential election saw widespread tit-for-tat attacks between Russia and Ukraine in which drones and missiles were used.
The Russian Ministry of Defence announced in a statement on Sunday that the army had shot down 12 rockets fired from Ukraine towards Russia’s Belgorod region.
This followed an earlier statement Sunday that Russian air defenses repelled a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeting Moscow and several provinces.
“Last night and the morning of March 17, the Kiev regime’s attempts to carry out terrorist attacks using marches on Russian territory were thwarted,” the Russian defense said in a statement.
The statement added: “Air defence systems destroyed 35 marches over Moscow province (4), Belgorod (3), Kaluga (2), Oriol (1), Rostov (1), Yaroslavl (4), Kursk (3) and Krasnodar (17).”
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attacks against Moscow and its environs did not result in casualties or damage.
According to the Ministry of Defence, two drones were shot down over the Kaluga region south of the Russian capital and the Yaroslavl region north-east of Moscow.
The attacks on the Yaroslavl region, about 800 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, were among Ukraine’s most remote to date.
More Ukrainian drones were shot down over the areas of Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov bordering Ukraine and Krasnodar, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Russian marches on Odessa
In contrast, Ukraine’s Southern Command said on Sunday that Russia had fired 16 drones and seven missiles, damaging agricultural companies and destroying buildings.
The Command added that 13 drones were destroyed over the Odessa area and one as they flew near the Mikulaev area.
It was not immediately clear what happened to the two unmanned drones and whether the rockets hit their targets.
However, the Ukrainian Air Force said that the rockets targeted the areas of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Chernihiv in Ukraine.
Today is the last day in Russia’s ongoing presidential election since early Friday, in which current Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to win.
