MOSCOW, May 17, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Russia intercepted more than 100 Ukrainian
drones overnight in the south of the country and over annexed Crimea and the
Black Sea, Moscow's defence ministry said on Friday.

Fifty-one drones were destroyed over Crimea, 44 over the Krasnodar region,
six over the Belgorod region, six over the Black Sea and one over the Kursk
region, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The offensive was one of the largest overnight drone attacks by Ukraine and
comes as Russian forces advance along the front line, making their biggest
territorial gains in 18 months.

Russia's latest offensive has further stretched Ukraine's outgunned and
outmanned forces.

Moscow seized 278 square kilometres (107 square miles) of Ukrainian territory
between May 9 and 15, according to AFP calculations based on data from the
Institute for the Study of War (ISW) -- the largest territorial gain in a
single operation since mid-December 2022.