Ukrainian drone attacks kill 6, Russia downs 800 drones

In a fresh round of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian air defence intercepted and downed 822 Ukrainian drones while at least six people were killed in Ukrainian-drone attacks, according to a series of reports by news agency TASS, said ANI.

As per TASS, 822 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russian regions and the Black and Azov Seas were intercepted and destroyed overnight, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

"Russian air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 822 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Tambov and Tula regions, the Moscow Region, the Krasnodar Region and the Republic of Crimea, as well as over the Azov and Black Seas, from 8 p.m. Moscow time (5 p.m. GMT) on August 15 to 8 a.m. Moscow time (5 a.m. GMT) on August 16," the Defence Ministry said.

Meanwhile, two separate reports by TASS mentioned that at least six people were killed and four injured in drone attacks in Rostov and Moscow.

As per the report on Sunday, three people were killed and one more was injured in a drone attack on southern Russia's Rostov Region, Governor Yury Slyusar reported.

"Last night, three people were killed as a result of an aerial attack on the Rostov Region, and one more has been hospitalised with injuries," he wrote on the Max channel, according to TASS.

The report further mentioned, quoting the official, that more than 150 UAVs were destroyed over three cities and nine districts in the region in the Ukrainian attack, the official added.

In another report earlier today, TASS mentioned that three people were injured in a drone attack near the Moscow Automobile Ring Road (MKAD), according to Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.

"Defence Ministry air defence capabilities have downed another nine drones targeting Moscow. Three people were injured near MKAD; they are being given all necessary assistance. Emergency specialists are working at the scene where [drone] debris fell," Sobyanin wrote on the Max channel, as per TASS.

Since midnight, as many as 132 unmanned aerial vehicles flying toward the Russian capital have been shot down, calculations by TASS based on the mayor's posts show.

Shortly after the Ukrainian drone strikes were reported, Russia retaliated via strikes on key Ukrainian storage sites and production facilities.

Russian forces hit a Ukrainian uncrewed boat production facility, which the Russian Defence Ministry claimed was used for the production and storage of components for uncrewed boats aimed at attacking Russian coastal cities, ships and infrastructure facilities in the Black Sea.

TASS further mentioned, citing the Defence Ministry, that Russian forces hit three dry cargo ships and two tankers at Odesa port, which it said were used to deliver military cargoes and fuels for the Ukrainian Army.

In another report, it said that according to the Russian Defence Ministry, forces also hit assembly facilities and storage sites for long-range drones and unmanned boats, as well as temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries in 159 areas.

Citing the Defence Ministry, TASS further reported, "Ukrainian forces lost around 1,390 troops in the special military operation zone over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defence Ministry said. Russia's Battlegroup North inflicted losses of up to 200 Ukrainian troops, Battlegroup West over 210, Battlegroup South up to 250, Battlegroup Centre over 365, Battlegroup East over 330 and Battlegroup Dnepr up to 35."

Earlier ANI in another report said that Ukraine on Saturday launched a series of successful long-range operations targeting key Russian aerospace, military, and energy infrastructure hundreds of kilometers behind the border.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the development in a post on X, revealing that the forces deployed long-range "Flamingo" missiles to strike the Progress Rocket Space Center in Russia's Samara region, a major Roscosmos enterprise involved in electronics production.

"Today, there are new significant results from our deep strikes. In Russia's Samara region, one of the key enterprises within Roscosmos - the Progress Center, which was involved, among other things, in electronics production - was hit. Flamingo missiles were used. A good achievement. The distance from our border is about 900 kilometers," he wrote.

He noted that Ukraine's long-range actions also struck the Savasleyka airbase and inflicted intentional damage on an oil facility in Ust-Luga.

"Our long-range sanctions also reached the Savasleyka airbase, where the carriers of Russian missiles that strike our cities and villages are based - about 700 kilometers from Ukraine. We also have confirmation of the damage we were aiming to inflict at an oil facility in Ust-Luga - more than 800 kilometers from our border," he added.

Further, emphasising Ukraine's broader strategy, Zelenskyy described the deep-strike campaign as a "plan of long-range sanctions" aimed at systematically dismantling Moscow's war potential and forcing a shift in Russian public opinion.

"The long-range sanctions plan is being implemented, and there are more and more of our mid-range strikes as well. In fact, we have succeeded in blocking off Russia's south. Our sanctions against Russian oil refineries and other facilities in Russia's oil sector, our mid-range strikes against Russian military logistics, and our operation in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov - all of this is working to limit Russia's war potential," Zelenskyy said in a video address shared on X.

Announcing new domestic sanctions, Zelenskyy urged international partners to expand global sanctions against Russia's defense industry, financial networks, and trade intermediaries, warning that many war-supporting enterprises currently remain unsanctioned.

"Today, there is a Ukrainian sanctions package targeting companies and vessels that are transporting grain and other goods stolen from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. We are preparing new sanctions packages against Russia's war industry, financial chains, and intermediaries. Unfortunately, a significant number of Russian enterprises working for the war are still not under international sanctions, and this must be corrected during August and September. We will raise this with leaders at all working levels," he added.

Addressing Ukraine's long-term defense requirements, the President pledged to continue working with allies to secure air defense systems, specifically anti-ballistic capabilities and Patriot batteries, while expanding domestic arms production.

"All of this will happen. It is not easy, but all of this will happen. Throughout the war, we have already spoken many times about weapons, capabilities, and equipment that we were initially told were supposedly impossible for us to obtain. Then we heard that Ukrainians supposedly would not be able to do it because it would take decades to become capable of it. F-16s, the production of millions of drones a year, specialized missile technologies - we did it," Zelenskyy stated.