MOSCOW – The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that an analysis of a Ukrainian drone shot down on Monday over the Novgorod region showed it had been targeting the Russian presidential residence.
According to the ministry, a special technical examination of the drone’s navigation system enabled specialists to extract a flight mission file loaded into the aircraft. Analysis of the routing data indicated that the intended target was one of the facilities belonging to the presidential residence in the Novgorod region.
The ministry added that materials obtained during the investigation would be forwarded to the United States through established communication channels.
The defense ministry also said on Thursday that Russian air defenses have downed 250 drones over the past day, including 12 targeting the Moscow region overnight.
The air defenses also shot down one guided aerial bomb and a Ukrainian Su-27 aircraft, the ministry said.
Russian forces have hit Ukrainian energy facilities, ammunition depots, drone assembly sites, as well as 154 temporary deployment sites of the Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries, it added.