Russia claims it downed 4 drones over 2 regions amid blackout reports

Russia claimed its air defenses shot down one drone over Belgorod Oblast and three more over Nizhny Novgorod Oblast overnight on March 1, according to the Russian Defense Ministry's Telegram channel.

In recent weeks and months, Russian authorities began reporting an increasing number of drone strikes targeting Belgorod, Bryansk, Oryol, and Leningrad oblasts, as well as other regions.

The Russian Telegram channel Astra wrote early on March 1 about explosions in the city of Dzerzhinsk in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, where one of Russia's largest explosives manufacturing plants is located, Ya. M. Sverdlov State Owned Enterprise.

The governor of Russia's Kursk Oblast, Roman Starovoyt, claimed a drone attack on the region, which allegedly resulted in a blackout in three settlements.

Ukrainian officials did not comment on the claims, which cannot be independently verified.

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