"From 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on May 25, the on-duty air defense units destroyed 51 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles: 21 over Kursk Region, 12 over Oryol Region, 11 over Tula Region, six over Moscow Region and one over Kaluga Region," the statement read.
Two drones were downed as they approached Moscow, the city's mayor said on Telegram.
"The Defense Ministry's air defense units repelled an attack by an enemy drone flying toward Moscow. Emergency services are working at the fragment crash site," Sergei Sobyanin said.
The second drone was shot down minutes later.