Russia’s defence ministry has said that its air defences destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones in the space of 30 minutes late on Friday.
The ministry said on Telegram that between 10pm and 10.30pm nine drones were destroyed in Rostov region on Ukraine’s eastern border and four in Kursk region, on Ukraine’s north border.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said it shot down 24 drones and another 13 did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures. It said Russia had launched 39 drones and one ballistic missile in attacks over the past day.
In a similar development, it has been reported that more than a hundred Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine are mercenaries.
They appear not to have a direct link to China’s government, according to two US officials familiar with American intelligence and a former western intelligence.
According to Reuters, they said however that Chinese military officers had been in the war behind Russia’s lines with Beijing’s approval to draw tactical lessons from the conflict.
The US confirmed on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two men of Chinese origin in eastern Ukraine after Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had information about 155 Chinese citizens fighting there on Russia’s behalf.
