Russian air defenses destroyed 3,909 fixed-wing drones over the past week, along with eight ground-launched Flamingo cruise missiles, five HIMARS rockets and 89 guided aerial bombs, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

According to the ministry, from June 13 to June 19, Russian forces carried out one massive strike and six group strikes. The ministry described the attacks as a response to Ukrainian terrorist attacks on civilian facilities inside Russian territory. High-precision weapons and strike drones were used.

The targets included defense industry facilities, fuel and energy infrastructure, transport sites and port infrastructure used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Russian strikes also hit military airfields, ammunition and fuel depots, territorial recruitment centers, and sites used to assemble, store, prepare and launch long-range drones.

The Defense Ministry also listed temporary deployment points for Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries among the facilities that were hit.

Against this backdrop, military expert and air defense forces historian Yury Knutov told NEWS.ru that drone attacks on Russian regions could intensify by autumn. In his view, a single raid could involve around 1,000 UAVs, although he does not expect attacks of that scale to be repeated every day.

Knutov linked the possible increase not only to expanded drone production. He also said Kiev is developing missile projects with support from European allies.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces regularly try to attack Russia’s border and central regions with fixed-wing kamikaze drones. Russian air defenses detect and destroy most of these aircraft. In response, the Russian army carries out targeted strikes on Ukrainian drone assembly sites, Ukrainian defense industry facilities, deployment areas of Ukrainian units, and warehouses storing weapons and military equipment.