Intense Airstrikes on Kyiv as Russia Downs 60 Ukrainian Drones

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced this morning on Friday, August 1st, that Russian air defense systems shot down 60 Ukrainian drones during the past night in one of the widest drone attacks since the beginning of the conflict.

The ministry, in a statement quoted by Sputnik agency, reported that interception operations took place between 11:30 pm on July 31st and 4:10 am Moscow time on August 1st.

According to the statement, the destroyed drones were distributed as follows: 31 drones over Belgorod province, 12 in Rostov province, 5 in Krasnodar region, 4 over the Black Sea waters, 3 in Voronezh province, 2 in Lipetsk province, 2 in Tula province, and one over the Sea of Azov.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday morning rose to 26 killed and 159 injured, as announced by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry today, Friday.

The ministry, through a post on Telegram app, stated that rescue teams retrieved 10 bodies from under the rubble of a destroyed residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi area west of Kyiv, indicating that the airstrikes involved the use of missiles and drones, also causing injuries to dozens.

Military operations and mutual escalation between Russia and Ukraine continue amid international concerns over the worsening humanitarian and security situation in the region, with no real signs of a near political solution.