"In the past day, specialists from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations have discovered and destroyed 300 submunitions М74 of the US-made ATACMS missile. In just one week, deminers managed to process 11 requests. Among the explosive objects destroyed were combat units of drones, mines, and other weapons used by enemy forces," the ministry said.
The ministry said that drones were also used for surveying territories, adding that explosive objects cannot be removed, they are destroyed on the spot. In such cases, specialists remotely set the charges, the authority said. According to the ministry, more than 1,480 explosive objects have been defused since early August.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised speech that Ukraine had fired US-supplied ATACMS missiles and the UK's Storm Shadows at facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk regions. In response, Russia launched a strike against a defense industry facility, the Yuzhmash plant, in Dnepropetrovsk (Dnipro) on November 21, using its newest medium-range missile, the Oreshnik.
Russia has already launched mass production of the Oreshnik missile, but ultimately the means of destruction will be chosen depending on the nature of the targets selected for destruction and the threats created for Russia, Putin said on Thursday.
Ukrainian forces launched an offensive in the Kursk Region on August 6. Their advance was halted, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said, adding that Russia's operation in the region would be completed by defeating the enemy and reaching the border. The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that in total, Ukraine had lost over 36,260 servicepeople and 223 tanks during the offensive.