On the night of March 1–2, Russian air defense forces once again repelled what officials described as a large-scale drone attack launched by the Ukrainian military. Between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Moscow time, air defense units intercepted and destroyed 172 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over several regions of the country, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The bulk of the drones were downed over southern territories and adjacent waters. Sixty-seven UAVs were shot down over the Black Sea, while another 66 were destroyed over Krasnodar Krai. Twenty-three drones were intercepted above Crimea. Eight were eliminated over the Sea of Azov, four over Belgorod Region, three over Kursk Region, and one over Astrakhan Region.

In Novorossiysk, debris from intercepted drones damaged more than ten residential buildings. Two of the buildings caught fire, and three people were reported injured, local authorities said. City officials promptly set up two temporary accommodation centers for residents affected by the incident.

The attack also disrupted civil aviation. Temporary restrictions were imposed at Sochi Airport, with Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency later reporting that normal operations resumed at around 7:30 a.m. on March 2.

Earlier in the evening, from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on March 1, on-duty air defense units had destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones across seven regions. Prior to that, dozens of aerial targets were shot down in the vicinity of Sochi. Mayor Andrey Proshunin stated that the city sustained neither casualties nor damage as a result of the attempted drone strike.