Russia intercepted 635 Ukrainian drones overnight

MOSCOW, Aug 2: Russian air defence systems intercepted 635 Ukrainian drones overnight, the defence ministry said Sunday.

"During the past night, air defence duty assets intercepted and destroyed 635 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles," the ministry wrote on Telegram, listing more than a dozen regions where the drones were encountered.

Ukraine attacked multiple regions of Russia on Sunday, killing at least eight people, Russian officials said.

Some of the strikes hit hundreds of kilometres from the front line, according to authorities.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have upped attacks on each other in recent months, as US-led talks aimed at ending the conflict remain largely frozen.

Kyiv, which denies targeting civilians, says the strikes are fair retaliation for deadly Russian bombardment of its own territory and are aimed at pressuring Moscow into negotiations.

Ukrainian shelling of Russia's Belgorod region bordering Ukraine left three dead, while a separate drone attack on the Saratov region bordering Kazakhstan killed two others, regional authorities said.

Three were killed in a drone strike on a car in Russia's Udmurtia region, more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the front line, the region's acting governor Olga Abramova said on Telegram.

"This act is monstrous in its senselessness. These people were definitely not a military target," she said.

Russian air defence systems intercepted 635 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry said.

Russia has stepped up its attacks using ballistic missiles on Ukraine in recent months. In retaliation, Ukraine is intensifying its attacks on Russian territory, mainly targeting oil depots.

Zelenskyhas pressed allies for more support, and has been negotiating with the United States for a licence to manufacture Patriot interceptor missiles.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump said that talks were ongoing, but that Washington had not yet agreed to the proposal, and had to be “very careful about letting somebody build them”, despite initially saying earlier this month that he had agreed to give the Ukrainians a licence.

“You have to be very judicious, but you have to be very careful,” Trump said on Friday.

“Now we have not agreed to that. We’re talking about it, but it’s a hard thing to give away that kind of technology. And I don’t think this would ever happen, but, you know, there’s people that you give that technology, they can someday turn on you.”�"AGENCIES