"The group's commander, Colonel General Alexander Sanchik, reported to the head of the Russian ministry that, as a result of the decisive and professional actions of the unit's military personnel, the village of Dronovka in the Donetsk People's Republic was liberated over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.
Russian air defense systems shot down 25 Ukrainian UAVs in an hour on Friday morning, including over the Tula, Kaluga, Tver, and Novgorod regions, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"On October 24 of this year, between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Moscow time [04:00 and 05:00 GMT], air defense alert systems intercepted and destroyed 25 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles: 11 UAVs over the Bryansk Region, six UAVs over the Tula Region, four UAVs over the Kaluga Region, three UAVs over the Tver Region, and one UAV over the Novgorod region," the ministry said in a statement.
Later in the day, Russian air defense systems downed seven more Ukrainian drones, the ministry said.
"On October 24, from 8:00 to 10:00, seven Ukrainian fixed-wing drones were destroyed by air defense units," the statement read.
Four of the drones were downed over the Kaluga Region and three over the Moscow Region, it specified.