Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, June 2, 2023. (Olga Maltseva / AFP via Getty Images)
Russian air defense intercepted three drones over Belgorod Oblast, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed on Oct. 16.
At around 11 p.m. local time on Oct. 16, Gladkov said that the drones were shot down near the city of Belgorod and the Yakovlevsky District.
Gladkov did not report any casualties or damage.
Gladkov said that the house was destroyed and two others sustained partial damage. He also claimed that three cars were damaged by debris from the drone.
Reports of drone strikes within Russia have increased in recent weeks. On Oct. 15, the Russian Defense Ministry said that air defense forces shot down 27 drones overnight.
On Oct. 11, Gladkov claimed that a drone attack in Belgorod Oblast killed two people and injured two others.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
"Constructive dialogue between Russia and the U.S. will always achieve more than the tired, destructive language of pressure," Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, wrote.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russian forces launched 136 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type attack drones, and fired four S-300/400 guided missiles.
Russian Shahed-type drones regularly breach Belarusian airspace as they fly towards Ukrainian cities during mass attacks which have escalated significantly over recent weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump that Moscow intended to continue offensive operations until it secured the full administrative borders of occupied Ukrainian regions.
The EU is close to reaching a full agreement on its 18th sanctions package against Moscow, which will include a new Russian oil price cap, Reuters reported on July 13, citing four sources within the bloc.
"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening," U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 13.
"Industry needs to ramp up its capacities. That applies to ammunition, to drones, to tanks — really to almost every area," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
Western countries and Israel suspect Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, a claim Iran denies, defending what it calls its "non-negotiable" right to develop a civilian nuclear program.
A Russian drone attack on Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast on July 13 killed one person and injured nine others, Governor Oleh Gryhorov reported, amid a larger attack on the region's critical infrastructure.
Moscow's ongoing summer offensive has not reached the Kremlin's expectations as Ukrainian troops continue to thwart Russian attacks on various regions, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on July 13.
Toma Istomina
