The Ukrainian Air Force announced on Sunday that it had successfully destroyed 22 Russian drones in the southern Odessa region during a three-and-a-half-hour-long operation.
According to a statement released on Telegram by the Ukrainian Air Force, “Russian occupiers launched multiple waves of attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles of the Shahed-136/131 type from the south and southeast.”
The statement further revealed that 25 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones were launched, and the Ukrainian Air Force managed to destroy 22 of them in collaboration with the air defense units of other components within the Ukrainian defense forces.
As tensions escalate in the region, Russia has intensified its attacks on the areas of southern Odessa and Mykolaiv in Ukraine, where vital ports and infrastructure for grain exports are located. This escalation comes after the collapse of a United Nations-brokered agreement in July that aimed to secure safe passage for grain shipments from the Black Sea.
Last month, the first civilian cargo ship sailed through the Black Sea from Ukraine to Istanbul, challenging the Russian blockade.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Saturday that two more ships had passed through the “temporary grain corridor” in the Black Sea, allowing them to avoid the Russian-imposed blockade.
In related news, the company operating the Crimean Bridge, which is controlled by Russia and links the mainland to the Crimean Peninsula, reported that traffic had returned to normal on the main bridge after a brief suspension early on Sunday. The local administration did not specify the reason for the temporary suspension of traffic.
In recent months, the Crimean Bridge has been the target of increasing attacks using both aerial and maritime drones.
Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a move that was widely condemned by Western governments as illegal.
