- According to a statement from the ministry, the interceptions took place between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
This is the dramatic moment Russia shoots down 26 drones over Crimea as Putin's Kremlin accuses Ukraine of staging an attack on the annexed peninsula.
Russia said on Friday it had thwarted a series of Ukrainian drone attacks in two border regions.
In a two-hour period, 26 drones were shot down over the Crimean peninsula annexed to Ukraine in 2014, the Defense Ministry said in a statement, without saying whether there were any casualties or damage.
The interceptions took place between 8:30 PM and 10:30 PM (1730-1930 GMT), according to a ministry statement.
Earlier, the ministry said in messages on Telegram that six drones targeting “installations on Russian territory” had been shot down in the Kursk region, again without providing further details.
Video footage showed drones being shot down on Friday evening
Drone attacks occur almost daily in Russia's border areas, although mass attacks are less common.
The governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, confirmed the attacks on Telegram and asked residents in the area to “keep calm.”
The capital Moscow and its suburbs have also been the target of Ukrainian drone attacks.
Russia, meanwhile, bombs Ukrainian cities almost every day. This week it launched a large-scale drone attack on southern Ukraine and fired ballistic missiles at Kiev, where around 50 people were injured by debris.
Crimea was captured from Ukraine by Russian forces and annexed in 2014.
Video reportedly showed a drone strike in Crimea. A separate video emerged showing missiles being launched
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.