Russia shoots down 31 Ukrainian drones

MOSCOW — Russia said on Monday that it had shot down 31 Ukrainian drones overnight over several Russian regions and annexed Crimea.

“During the night new attempts by the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist attacks with the help of aerial drones... against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation were foiled,” the defens ministry said in a statement on the Telegram social media channel.

Twelve drones were shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine and where a Ukrainian strike had killed 15 people on Sunday, it said.

Eight drones were destroyed over the region of Kursk, also bordering Ukraine, and four were intercepted over the neighboring region of Lipetsk, it said.

Seven drones and four Storm Shadow missiles were destroyed over Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukraine has upped its attacks on Russian territory over the past several months.

Russian forces have repeatedly targeted Ukrainian territory since Moscow first sent troops into its neighbour in February 2022.

Ukraine FM visits Serbia

Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba kicked off an official visit to Serbia on Monday, where he was set to meet with the Balkan country’s leaders days after a high-profile visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska was also in the capital Belgrade, where she signed a new education agreement with a university in Serbia, according to a post on X.

Serbia remains a rare outlier in Europe for refusing to sanction the Kremlin following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Belgrade has long been close to Moscow, with its shared Orthodox heritage, mutual distrust of NATO, and military alliances during several wars strengthening their relations.

The country has welcomed tens of thousands Russians fleeing the war in recent years.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has also met multiple times with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, including a brief sit down during a summit in Albania in late February.

Kuleba’s visit to Serbia was his first to the Balkan country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The foreign minister was set to meet with Serbia’s new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, according to a government statement.

The visit comes less than a week after Serbia rolled out the red carpet for China’s Xi during the leader’s three-country European tour.