Ukraine downed over 200 kamikaze drones since Sept. 13: Defense Ministry

By Burc Eruygur

ANKARA (AA) - Ukrainian forces have destroyed 223 Russian drones since Sept. 13, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.

"As of Oct. 19, since the first downing of an Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drone on the territory of Ukraine, on September 13, 2022, in Kupyansk, air defenses of the Air Force and other components of the Defense Forces of Ukraine destroyed 223 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said anti-aircraft missile units, fighter aircraft, self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, man-portable air-defense systems, anti-aircraft guns, high-caliber machine guns, and other weapons have been used in downing the drones.

Kyiv recently accused Iran of providing military drones to Russia after multiple strikes rocked major Ukrainian cities and region, namely the capital Kyiv, as well as Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy.

Missile and drone strikes were also reported by Ukrainian authorities in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv regions on Saturday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that he had "no available data" on deliveries of Iranian UAVs to Russia.

Ukraine, meanwhile, accused Iran and Russia on the same day of violating UN sanctions over the shipments it said Moscow received.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba submitted a proposal to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday to sever diplomatic relations with Iran.