Russian military aviation reportedly suffers losses during drone defense over Leningrad Oblast

Pro-war Russian Telegram channels reported the loss of three Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft and the deaths of pilots during efforts to counter a major overnight Ukrainian drone strike targeting Leningrad Oblast. The defense operations coincided with reported strikes on the port of Ust-Luga, where a fire injured three workers.

On the frontlines, Ukrainian forces reportedly captured new positions in the western part of Mala Tokmachka along the Zaporizhzhia axis. Simultaneously, Russian troops continued expanding their area of control southeast of Kostiantynivka and advanced northwest of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian civilian targets were also hit, including a lyceum in Yagotyn, Kyiv Oblast, where students escaped unharmed in a shelter.

Sources: Belsat, Mediazona, NEXTA, The Insider, Verstka.