Russia's defence ministry has vowed to retaliate against Ukrainian drone strikes as the Russian forces shot down eight US made ATACMS missiles fired by Ukraine on Saturday morning. The ministry said that the Russian forces took control of the village of Nadiya in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region. It further added that Russia’s air defence systems shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory on Saturday morning, including three over the northern Leningrad region. Due to the exchange of strikes between Russia and Ukrainian forces, St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport halted its arrivals and departures on Saturday morning, reported Reuters. Moscow, which sees attack via ATACMS missiles as a major escalation in war, also shot down 72 aircraft type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Russia’s Ministry of Defence said “These actions by the Kyiv regime, which is supported by Western curators, will be met with retaliation,” CNN reported. Alongside Leningrad, Russia also destroyed one of the drones in the Kursk region, where Ukraine had launched a surprise attack last year. The US made ATACMS missiles have a range of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles). US President Joe Biden had approved the usage of ATACMS missiles by Ukraine in November in response to Russia expanding the war by deploying North Korean troops against Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened that the Kremlin would respond with its nuclear-capable ballistic missile ‘Oreshnik’ against Ukraine’s usage of ATACMS missiles. Leningrad’s Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko, in a statement on Telegram said “Night and morning of January 4 were record-breaking in terms of the number of UAVs destroyed.” Meanwhile, According to Ukraine’s Air Force Command, Russia had launched close to 81 drones in Ukraine on Friday and Saturday.
