LIVE – War in Ukraine: Counter-offensive makes “progress” according to NATO chief

Russia said it shot down five Ukrainian drones in the south of the country and near Moscow on Thursday.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the drone was shot down around 3 a.m. local time in Ramenskoye, 60 km southeast of Moscow. The drone exploded at the level of the 5th floor of an apartment building, blowing out the windows of five apartments and damaging four vehicles, local administration head Nikolai Khan told Telegram.

Two other drones were shot down around 3 a.m. local time in Rostov-on-Don (southern), west of the city, without causing any casualties, while another fell in the city center, injuring one, Governor Vassily Golobev said. According to the AFP journalist, Ukraine, of this region, which has become the nerve center of Russian operations in Ukraine. The blast blew out the windows and doors of a small old two-story building. Half a dozen parked cars were damaged.

Two other Ukrainian drones were shot down at 6:30 a.m. local time and 7 a.m. local time (4:00 a.m. GMT) in the Ukrainian border region of Bryansk (400 km southwest of Moscow) without casualties, the Defense Ministry said.

Finally, Vyacheslav Kladkov, the governor of Belgorod, another border region of Ukraine, noted that Ukrainian artillery fire had damaged a high-voltage line in the morning, leaving five villages without electricity.