Dozens of Ukrainian drones have been shot down by Russian air defences in occupied Crimea and southern Russia, based on officers.

Air raid sirens wailed in Sevastopol, Crimea's largest metropolis, and visitors was halted for the second day straight on The Kerch Bridge, an important provide hyperlink for Russia that connects it with the peninsula.

Russia's defence ministry stated it has intercepted 36 drones over Crimea and one over the area of Krasnodar in current days.

The drones are a part of intensified Ukrainian aerial assaults, based on the ministry, which additionally stated a Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile was destroyed over the Black Sea.

This comes as Kyiv presses ahead with its technique of concentrating on Crimea - which was illegally seized by Russia a decade in the past - and taking the battle past Ukraine's borders.

On Thursday, Ukrainian rocket and drone assaults injured three individuals within the Russian metropolis of Belgorod and the encircling area, based on Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

An assault on navy amenities in Crimea additionally affected a command centre and the peninsula's air defence system, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern joint forces stated.

Natalia Humeniuk added that the Russian navy not too long ago relocated its Crimean launch websites for Shahed drones.

It was not doable to confirm both facet's claims.

On 30 December, Ukrainian assaults on the border metropolis killed 25 individuals, Russian officers stated. Vladimir Putin's forces swiftly retaliated by concentrating on a number of Ukrainian cities.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to strike extra targets in Crimea and inside Russia's borders this 12 months, as a part of a bid to unsettle individuals forward of the nation's spring election.

Zelenskyy beforehand stated Ukraine has developed a weapon that may hit targets 400 miles away and shared plans to supply 1 million drones - a key battlefield weapon.

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Russia can be elevating the stakes in its long-range warfare, buying ballistics missiles from North Korea and firing a minimum of one into Ukraine on 30 December, based on US intelligence.

The Kremlin can be searching for close-range missiles from Iran, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated.

Content Source: information.sky.com