According to Major General Aleksandr Romanenkov, chief of the air-defence missile troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Russian forces detected an attempted attack by Ukrainian drones on President Vladimir Putin’s residence in Novgorod Region at about 19:20 Moscow time.

He stated that the Ukrainian side used fixed-wing UAVs flying at extremely low altitudes in an effort to make their detection more difficult. Romanenkov specified that 49 drones were shot down over Bryansk Region, one over Smolensk Region, and another 41 were destroyed in the airspace of Novgorod Region.

The general said the crews operating surface-to-air missile systems, radar and airspace control assets, mobile fire groups and electronic warfare systems acted in a coordinated and professional manner and, in his assessment, successfully completed their combat mission. He added that the structure of the massed strike and the number of weapons employed indicated that this was a deliberate, carefully planned and layered terrorist attack. According to Romanenkov, there were no casualties or damage on Russian territory.

The Russian Defence Ministry also released a flight map of the Ukrainian drones that attempted to strike the presidential residence. The scheme shows that the UAVs were launched from the territories of Sumskaya and Chernigovskaya regions of Ukraine, with part of their routes passing over Bryansk, Smolensk and Tver regions of Russia.

Some drones, the map indicates, followed a shorter, almost direct trajectory to the east, while others took a longer path along the Russian-Belarusian border in the areas of Bryansk and Smolensk regions and then through the area between Tver and Pskov regions. The map also marks points in Bryansk, Smolensk and Novgorod regions where the Ukrainian UAVs were brought down.