Russia says it downed three drones near Ukrainian border, one killed

Russia's Defense Ministry said early on Saturday that its forces had destroyed an unmanned Ukrainian boat attempting to attack the bridge linking the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.

 Smoke and flames rise from an explosion during a fire at a military training ground in the Kirovske district, Crimea, July 19, 2023. (photo credit: STRINGER/ REUTERS)
Smoke and flames rise from an explosion during a fire at a military training ground in the Kirovske district, Crimea, July 19, 2023.
(photo credit: STRINGER/ REUTERS)

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it had brought down three Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region, while the regional governor said that one man had been killed in a Ukrainian rocket strike on a village close to the border.

Separately, the governors of the nearby frontier regions of Bryansk and Kursk said a string of border villages had come under fire from Ukraine, and a woman had been wounded in Kursk region.

Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory have picked up in recent weeks, with dozens of drones striking Russia at once on some days, reaching as far as the western city of Pskov, 400 miles (600 km) from Ukraine.

Russian-installed authorities in the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine's Kherson region also said on Saturday that Kyiv struck the village of Maslivka in a drone strike, wounding a civilian.

Attempts to take down the Crimea bridge

Russia's Defense Ministry said early on Saturday that its forces had destroyed an unmanned Ukrainian boat being used in an attempt to attack the bridge linking the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.

 A view across the Kerch Strait shows a fuel depot on fire near the Crimean bridge in the village of Volna in Russia's Krasnodar region as seen from a coastline in Crimea, May 3, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)
A view across the Kerch Strait shows a fuel depot on fire near the Crimean bridge in the village of Volna in Russia's Krasnodar region as seen from a coastline in Crimea, May 3, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)

The ministry, in a post on Telegram, said the unmanned vessel had been "spotted and destroyed in time off the Black Sea coast" at about 11.15 p.m. (2015 GMT) on Friday.