Russia downs 291 Ukrainian drones

Russian air defence units downed 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones, the Russian Defence Ministry said yesterday.

"Air defence systems downed two guided aircraft bombs, three projectiles of Czech-made Vampire multiple rocket launch systems and 291 fixed-wing drones," the ministry said on its Telegram channel.

It added that Russian warplanes and drones struck drone production facilities and control centres within Ukraine.

Falling debris from destroyed Ukrainian drones disrupted railway power supply and train operations in part of the Volgograd region, the administration of the region in Russia's south said.

There were no injuries as a result of the attacks, the administration said on the Telegram messaging app, citing Governor Andrei Bocharov.

Russia prefers political and diplomatic means to resolve conflict in Ukraine, but Kyiv and the West rejected that path, Russian news agencies reported yesterday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"Our preferred route is through political and diplomatic means," Peskov said, according to TASS state news agency.

Peskov added, without providing evidence, that Moscow continues its military operation in Ukraine because "all proposals for dialogue were rejected, both by Ukraine and by Western countries."

Meanwhile, Russia said yesterday a major annual navy parade had been cancelled for "security reasons", without specifying the threat or concern.

"It has to do with the general situation. Security reasons are of utmost importance," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies.

The parade was meant to be the highlight of Russia's Navy Day, which falls on the last Sunday of July each year and honours the country's sailors.

But local authorities in the coastal city of Saint Petersburg, where the warships and submarines were scheduled to pass, said on Friday the parade had been cancelled without giving a reason.