Shafaq News- Moscow/ Kyiv

Russia and Ukraine exchanged overnight aerial strikes on Friday, with both sides reporting drone interceptions and impacts across several regions.

In a statement, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 95 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Smolensk, Tver, Tula, Krasnodar, the Moscow region, and above the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. Authorities indicated that five drones were approaching Moscow.

Ukraine’s General Staff, meanwhile, indicated that Russian forces launched 187 drones from Bryansk, Oryol, Shatalovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and occupied Crimea. Kyiv intercepted or disabled 165 drones across northern, southern, and eastern areas. Twenty struck 14 sites, while several remained in Ukrainian airspace.

The escalation comes as US-backed diplomacy continues to pursue a settlement to the Russia-Ukraine war that began in February 2022. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the next round of trilateral talks involving Russia and Ukraine is expected in Abu Dhabi in early March, following meetings in Geneva between US and Ukrainian officials focused on post-war reconstruction.

European intelligence officials told Reuters they consider a settlement this year unlikely, assessing that Moscow is not moving toward a swift resolution and may be using engagement with Washington to seek sanctions relief and broader economic concessions.

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