23 drones were shot down in five regions of the Southern Federal District.
The Ministry of Defense reported downed drones in Kuban, Adygea, and the Rostov, Astrakhan, and Volgograd regions.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," between 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM Moscow time on March 8, the military shot down eight drones over Krasnodar Krai, two over Rostov Oblast, and one over Adygea. Drones were destroyed in four districts of the Rostov Region - Matveyevo-Kurgan, Neklinovsky, Millerovsky, and Myasnikovsky, Governor Yuri Slyusar announced today.
Last night, air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 163 Ukrainian drones, including 16 in Krasnodar Krai, three in Adygea, two in Rostov Region, one in Astrakhan Region, and one in Volgograd Region, the Ministry of Defense reported on its Telegram channel.
According to the publication, four more drones were shot down over the Black Sea, and two over the Sea of Azov. The rest were destroyed in the Bryansk, Kaluga, Novgorod, Belgorod, Smolensk, Voronezh, Oryol, and Tver regions, and in Crimea.
The Kuban operational headquarters, the Volgograd regional administration, the head of Adygea Murat Kumpilov, and the governor of the Astrakhan region Igor Babushkin, as of 9:55 a.m. Moscow time, had not reported any attacks on their Telegram channels.
As a reminder, on December 15, 2025, 38 drones were shot down in the Astrakhan region. They attacked "industrial and energy facilities," Igor Babushkin reported on his Telegram channel that day. He called it "one of the most massive attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Astrakhan region."
In Volgograd, on the night of February 13, a woman and a teenager were injured in a drone attack. According to authorities, several private and apartment buildings were damaged. Windows in damaged apartments haven't been repaired even a week after the attack, and it's difficult to reach dispatchers, victims complained.
Drone attack threat alerts have become daily in the Volgograd region, but actual drone attacks aren't always preceded by a warning, local residents previously interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" stated.
In the Rostov region, there is a ban on filming aerial attacks and their aftermath, air defense operations, and military units. The "Caucasian Knot" published a corresponding governor's decree.
In December 2025, Kuban authorities introduced fines for filming aerial attacks and air defense operations. The "Caucasian Knot" published a corresponding regional legislative assembly bill.
In other regions of the Southern and North Caucasian Federal Districts, including the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions, filming drone attacks and their aftermath is also prohibited. These prohibitions contradict the Constitution, which guarantees the inadmissibility of censorship and the freedom to search for, record, and disseminate information, lawyers pointed out.