UPDATE - Russia says 9 people injured in Ukraine's massive overnight drone attack

UPDATES NUMBER OF INJURED PEOPLE; ADDS DETAILS; REVISES HEADLINE

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian authorities said on Saturday that at least nine people, including two children, were injured in Ukraine's massive drone attack Friday night.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry statement, some 170 Ukrainian drones were shot down over six Russian regions overnight.

"During the past night, 170 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed and intercepted by air defense systems on duty from 22:00 to 05:00 (Moscow time, GMT1900-0200)," the ministry said.

In total, air defense systems destroyed seven JDAM-guided aerial bombs and a US-made HIMARS rocket, as well as 292 drones over the past day across Russia, it said.

The ministry added that Kyiv launched a massive missile attack Friday night on the infrastructure of the Crimean peninsula with eight UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles and three Neptune anti-ship missiles.

The military service claimed all the missiles were destroyed, causing no casualties or damage.

During the day, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet also destroyed 23 unmanned enemy boats that tried to attack the coastal infrastructure of the Crimean Peninsula.

Separately, the governor of the southern Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, reported that the port city of Novorossiysk suffered the most severe consequences.

"At the moment, five victims of varying severity are known, including two children. They receive all the necessary assistance," he said, adding that several residential buildings, cars, and other objects were hit in the attack.

The emergency situation was declared in the Krasnodar region.

Four more people were injured in the Bryansk region, according to its Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz.

In the Belgorod region, a Christian church was destroyed in an attack by a drone, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

This year, Ukraine launched several large-scale drone attacks on Russia, the biggest was registered in March, when 343 drones targeted Moscow and its suburbs, killing at least three people, injuring 17 others, and causing a halt of operations at the Russian capital's four airports.