Russia Says It Captured Settlement in Zaporizhzhia and Downed 1,328 Drones

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had captured the settlement of Rybalskoye in the Zaporizhzhia region. In a statement on Saturday, the ministry also claimed that over the past 24 hours it had destroyed 1,328 Ukrainian drones and 17 Flamingo cruise missiles.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, its forces used Geran drones to strike a Ukrainian army long-range drone depot and a 110-kilovolt power substation in the Chernihiv region.

Meanwhile, Pyotr Bulgarev, commander of the East group of units, said in a report to Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov that the unit had captured 19 settlements during the summer operation.

He said seven of them are in the Dnipropetrovsk region and the other 12 are in the Zaporizhzhia region. Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk are among the key regions in southern and eastern Ukraine and have been the scene of heavy fighting in recent months.