Russian military shot down their drones launched at Ukraine following Putin's order
Russian military was forced to shoot down its unmanned devices (drones) launched towards Ukraine after receiving President Vladimir Putin's order to temporarily halt strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities. This was officially announced by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
According to the ministry's statement, at the time the order was received, seven attack drones had been launched by Russian forces towards Ukrainian territory. They were aimed at energy facilities related to the military-industrial complex located in Mykolaiv region.
The command was given to the air defense forces of the Russian Federation to neutralize these unmanned devices, resulting in six drones being shot down by "Pantsir" missile systems, and another one was downed by a fighter jet of the Russian Air Force.
The Ministry of Defense emphasized that this incident occurred after a phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. The Kremlin announced that after the negotiations, Putin had ordered a halt to strikes on Ukraine's energy system for 30 days.
Additionally, the Russian ministry reported that just a few hours after this agreement, three drones attacked the energy infrastructure in the village of Kavkazskaya in Krasnodar Krai, Ukraine. As a result of the attack, one oil reservoir was damaged and a fire broke out.
Russia is assessing this attack as a special provocation aimed at undermining US peace initiatives.
In the report of the Ukrainian armed forces on March 19, it was stated that Russian troops attacked Ukraine with "Iskander-M", S-300 missiles, and 145 drones of the "Shaheed" type.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, while supporting the cessation of attacks on energy infrastructure, emphasized that Ukraine would respond sharply if such strikes occurred.
Zelensky stated that he has not yet had a conversation with former US President Trump, but expressed a desire to gain more information about agreements with Russia through this communication. "As long as Russia strikes our energy facilities, we will not remain silent. Of course, we will respond," Zelensky said.
