MOSCOW – Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that Russian forces had shot down eight U.S.-made ATACMS missiles, and took control of the village of Nadiya in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region.
The ministry said its air defence systems had shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory on Saturday morning, including three over the northern Leningrad region.
In the meantime, St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport temporarily halted flight arrivals and departures.
Separately, Russian forces launched attacks near the strategic city of Pokrovsk in an effort to bypass it from the south and cut off supply routes to Ukraine’s troops, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday.
The capture of the road and rail hub in the eastern Donetsk region could create serious difficulties for the Ukrainian army on the eastern front and also allow Russia to reinforce and advance its front line to the west.
