Russia Says West Group Shot Down 110 Ukrainian Heavy Drones
Moscow says its Battlegroup West destroyed 110 heavy Ukrainian hexacopters and dozens of other targets in a day as drone activity raises tensions across Europe.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Russia's Battlegroup West says its air-defense units and mobile forces destroyed 110 Ukrainian heavy combat hexacopters and dozens of other aerial and ground targets over the past 24 hours, according to Russia's state-run TASS news agency.
Battlegroup spokesman Ivan Bigma said the formation also intercepted a US-made HIMARS rocket and destroyed more than 60 other Ukrainian unmanned aircraft and loitering munitions.
The Russian claims could not be independently verified.
110 Heavy Hexacopters Reported Downed
Bigma said Russian forces had destroyed 57 fixed-wing Ukrainian drones, 110 heavy combat hexacopters and six loitering munitions, in addition to the HIMARS projectile.
"Air defense crews and mobile armed units shot down in flight a US-made HIMARS rocket, 57 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, 110 heavy combat hexacopters, and six enemy loitering munitions," TASS quoted him as saying.
The Battlegroup West also reported destroying 58 Ukrainian drone-control posts, three Starlink satellite communication stations, 32 ground robotic systems and six field ammunition depots during the same period.
The report did not specify where all of the interceptions took place or provide independent evidence for the number of systems allegedly destroyed.
The claimed scale of the drone interceptions comes as both Russia and Ukraine increasingly rely on unmanned systems for reconnaissance, strikes and battlefield logistics.
Strikes Target Ukraine's Port Infrastructure
Separately, TASS reported that Russian forces struck infrastructure at the Ukrainian port of Izmail, including a railway station that Moscow says is used to handle military cargo and fuel.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said two seagoing tugboats were hit southwest of Mykolaiv in the Black Sea. Moscow claimed the vessels were involved in escorting cargo ships carrying Western weapons to Ukrainian ports.
TASS also reported strikes on a logistics center in Brovary, Kyiv region, and earlier attacks on fuel facilities and military-related infrastructure around Odesa and Mykolaiv.
Ukraine has not endorsed Russia's characterization of the targets, and the claims could not be independently verified.
Belgorod Reports More Than 72,000 Drone Attacks
The Russian claims come amid Moscow's repeated reports of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory.
Speaking to TASS, acting Belgorod Region Governor Alexander Shuvayev said the border region had recorded more than 72,000 Ukrainian drone strikes since February 2022, alongside approximately 14,500 artillery attacks and more than 1,220 multiple-launch rocket system attacks.
The figures were provided by the regional authorities and were not independently verified.
Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, has frequently reported Ukrainian drone and artillery attacks since the full-scale Russian invasion began in 2022.
Drone Risks Extend Beyond the Battlefield
The growing use and movement of drones has also raised security concerns beyond the immediate war zone.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace on Friday. Latvia's Defense Ministry said the unmanned aircraft had entered the country's territory as a result of what it described as Russian electronic warfare.
Latvia's armed forces later confirmed that the drone had been destroyed and that the immediate threat had ended.
The incident highlights the wider risks created by increasingly sophisticated drone warfare along NATO's eastern flank. AFP reported that Baltic states and other European countries have experienced repeated unauthorized drone incursions since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The latest incident also followed a separate report from Russia's Leningrad region that air defenses had destroyed 54 Ukrainian drones, according to regional authorities.
The competing claims illustrate how unmanned systems have become central to the wider security environment surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war.
For Russia, the latest battlefield reports are presented as evidence of the effectiveness of its air defenses and electronic warfare capabilities. For Ukraine, the continuing use of long-range drones remains a key means of striking targets beyond the front line.
As drone operations expand in scale and geographic reach, the risk of incidents extending beyond Ukraine's borders is also becoming increasingly prominent across Eastern Europe.