MOSCOW, March 9, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Russia said on Saturday it had destroyed 47

Ukrainian drones over its southern regions overnight, mostly in the Rostov
area bordering Ukraine.

Kyiv has regularly launched drones into Russia during Moscow's military
offensive in Ukraine, now in its third year.

"Air defence systems on duty intercepted and destroyed over the territories
of Belgorod region (one drone), Kursk region (two drones), Volgograd region
(three drones) and Rostov region (41 drones)," the Russian army said on
social media.

The southern Rostov region is a hub for the Russian army to plan its military
operations in Ukraine.

Rostov governor Vasily Golubev said on social media that a drone attack had
hit the city of Taganrog, on the Azov Sea near a Russian-occupied part of
Ukraine.

He said a rescue worker was wounded but there were "no dead".

Roman Starovoyt, the governor of the Kursk region, which lies further north
and also borders Ukraine, said a clinic had been damaged in the main city of
Kursk.

He posted a video of himself outside "polyclinic number 6 in Kursk". The top
of the green-painted building was visibly damaged.

"Luckily, everyone is alive," Starovoyt said, adding that medics had
evacuated patients from a nearby hospital.

Kursk is a city of around 440,000 people, around 120 kilometres (75 miles)
from the Ukraine border.