Russia shoots down drones over two border regions with Ukraine

Issued on: 08/27/2023 – 07:31

2 minutes

7:19 a.m.: Russian ships return from a joint patrol in the Pacific with the Chinese Navy

A detachment of Russian navy warships has returned from more than three weeks of joint patrolling of the Pacific Ocean with Chinese navy vessels, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Sunday.

The warships of the Russian Pacific Fleet, together with a detachment of Chinese Navy ships, traveled more than 7,000 nautical miles through the Sea of ​​Japan, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean, it reported. Interfax citing the fleet’s press service.

During the patrol, the Russian-Chinese detachment passed through the Kuril ridge, the agency reported.

The islands, off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, are known in Russia as the Kuril Islands and in Japan as the Northern Territories and have been at the center of decades of tension between the neighbors.

6:27 am: Russia shoots down two drones over the Kursk and Bryansk regions

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces shot down two drones overnight on Sunday in two border regions with Ukraine.

One drone was shot down over the Bryansk region in western Russia and another over the Kursk region just to the south, the Defense Ministry said on the Telegram messaging channel.

There was no further information on possible damage or casualties.

4:18 am: Ukraine repels airstrike on kyiv

Ukraine’s air defense systems were repelling a Russian airstrike on the outskirts of kyiv early on Sunday, kyiv’s military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.

A witness reported the sound of explosions. All of Ukraine was under air raid alert at 5am.

Key news for Friday, August 26:

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it shot down three drones over its territory.

In Ukraine, three pilots have been killed after two L-39 trainer jets collided mid-air in central Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said in a statement on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a second ship left the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on Saturday since Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal bound for Bulgaria, according to local media reports.

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)