Russia claimed on Tuesday morning it had downed 35 Ukrainian drones over occupied Crimea overnight, accusing Kyiv of trying to commit a “terrorist attack.”

Moscow – which for over a year now has targeted Ukrainian cities with thousands of Kamikaze drones – said the attack was “foiled” with 22 being destroyed and 13 intercepted over the Azov Sea.

It did not report any damage or casualties.

Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, hosts the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet and is a key supply route for Russian forces in southern and eastern Ukraine.

It is regularly targeted by Ukrainian forces.

Elsewhere in Crimea this week, 24 Russian troops were killed after being given poison-laced food by “two nice girls” at a military checkpoint in Simferopol, Crimea, according to reports.

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Unverified reports on Russian media channels said two partisans approached the soldiers with vodka, fish, sausage, bread, and cheese.

“They told the guards that they wanted to thank our boys for everything, for protecting them,” a source told the Telegram channel Kremlin Snuffbox, which posted the information on Dec. 1.

“The guys took vodka and food, drank with their colleagues, and ate. And many were poisoned.”

The Ukrainian partisan group Crimean Combat Seagulls later confirmed the news, saying that in addition to the 24 Russian soldiers killed, 11 more were hospitalized.

Diane Francis Interviews Mikhail Zygar, Yaroslav Trofimov on Prospects of Russia’s War on Ukraine
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Diane Francis Interviews Mikhail Zygar, Yaroslav Trofimov on Prospects of Russia’s War on Ukraine

Video discussion with three leading expert journalists on the current situation in Russia’s war against Ukraine republished with the permission of the Peterson Literary Fund.
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