New Delhi, July 5 -- MOSCOW - Russian air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 71 fixed-wing Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday morning.

The drones were shot down between 8 p.m. Moscow time on July 4 and 7 a.m. Moscow time on July 5, an eleven-hour window covering the full overnight period. The Defense Ministry reported intercepts over the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Rostov regions, the Republic of Crimea, and the Black Sea.

The overnight figure of 71 continues a pattern of large-scale Ukrainian drone campaigns targeting Russian regions across a broad geographic spread. Belgorod Oblast, bordering Ukraine's Kharkiv region, has been among the most frequently struck Russian border areas...