Russia Claims Destruction of More Than 260,000 Ukrainian Drones

Dragon Media News Desk

Russia’s Defence Ministry says Russian forces have destroyed 260,703 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles since the start of what Moscow calls its special military operation in Ukraine. In a report released on October 13, the ministry said Ukrainian forces had lost approximately 1,285 personnel in fighting across the front over the previous 24 hours.

Since the operation began, Russian forces have also destroyed 674 Ukrainian aircraft, 284 helicopters, 672 surface-to-air missile systems, 31,216 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 1,787 multiple rocket launchers, 36,713 field artillery guns and mortars, and 74,402 military vehicles, the ministry said.

Losses reported across the front

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, Ukrainian forces lost more than 270 personnel, a tank, eight motor vehicles, a field artillery gun and an electronic warfare station in the area of responsibility of Russia’s Battlegroup North over the past day. The ministry said Russian forces struck Ukrainian units near Velyki Prokhody, Khotomlia, Pogoreloye, Russkaya Lozovaya, Tsirkuny and Velykyi Burluk in the Kharkov Region, and near Glukhov, Yuryevo, Barilovka, Maryino, Konotop and Nikolskoye, as well as the city of Sumy.

Battlegroup North is fighting to take control of Nikolayevka, Varvarovka and Nefyodovka in the Kharkov Region and is tightening the encirclement of Ukrainian forces there, the ministry said. In the encircled area, Ukrainian forces lost about 60 personnel, a motor vehicle and five ground robotic platforms over the past 24 hours, it added. Fighting is also continuing for control of Prikolotnoye, Kotovka and Gogino.

In the area of responsibility of Battlegroup West, Ukrainian forces lost about 230 personnel, an armoured combat vehicle, 17 motor vehicles, three artillery guns and four electronic warfare stations, according to the ministry. It said Russian forces struck Ukrainian units near Grushevka, Blagodatovka, Berezovka, Maliyevka and Osinovo in the Kharkov Region, and Volchy Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Battlegroup West also improved its forward positions, the ministry said.

Battlegroup South inflicted losses of about 160 personnel, four armoured combat vehicles, 31 motor vehicles and an artillery gun on Ukrainian forces, the ministry reported. It said Russian forces struck units of two mechanised brigades, an airmobile brigade and a marine infantry brigade near Kramatorsk, Semyonovka, Slavyansk and Nikolayevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

In the area of responsibility of Battlegroup Center, Ukrainian forces lost about 345 personnel, seven armoured combat vehicles, eight motor vehicles, three field artillery guns and a Grad multiple rocket launcher, the ministry said. Russian forces struck Ukrainian units near Liman, Verovka, Belozerskoye, Svyatogorovka, Vesyolaya Gora, Maryevka and Novoyavlenka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, it added. The targets included two mechanised brigades, an airborne brigade and two National Guard brigades.

The ministry also said assault groups from the 51st Army had advanced into the central and northwestern parts of Dobropolye in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Russian forces continued clearing areas of the town they had taken, as well as the grounds of the Dobropolskaya coal mine. Over the past day, they took control of 286 buildings, including three production facilities, and killed about 65 Ukrainian troops, the ministry said.

Battlegroup East inflicted losses of more than 240 personnel, an armoured combat vehicle, eight motor vehicles and an artillery gun on Ukrainian forces, according to the ministry. It said Russian units struck Ukrainian formations near Gavrilovka and Tarasovka in the Dnepropetrovsk Region, and Dudnikovo, Zalivnoye, Blakitnoye and Volnyanka in the Zaporozhye Region.

Battlegroup Dnepr struck Ukrainian mechanised and mountain assault brigade formations near Orekhov and Kushugum in the Zaporozhye Region, the ministry said. Up to 40 Ukrainian personnel, 20 motor vehicles, two field artillery guns and two electronic warfare stations were destroyed, it added.

Strikes on 142 locations; 883 drones intercepted

The Russian Defence Ministry said Russian aircraft, attack drones, missile troops and artillery struck Ukrainian military-industrial and transport facilities used by the Ukrainian army, drone production workshops and storage sites, as well as temporary deployment areas of Ukrainian formations and foreign mercenaries, at 142 locations over the past 24 hours.

Russian air defences also intercepted and destroyed 883 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles during that period, the ministry said. The figures and battlefield updates in this report were provided by Russia’s Defence Ministry.