MOSCOW - Russia's air defenses shot down 159 Ukrainian drones over various regions of the country overnight, the defense ministry said Wednesday.

"Between 8:00 pm on May 20 and 4:05 am on May 21 Moscow time (1700-0105 GMT), on-duty air defenses intercepted and destroyed 127 fixed-wing Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles" across several Russian regions, the ministry said. In the period from 4:00 am to 8:00 am Moscow time (0100-0500 GMT), the air defenses destroyed another 32, it added.

Those drones included 53 shot down over Oryol Region, 51 over Bryansk, 37 over Kursk, and six over Moscow, according to the ministry.