«After talks with Trump»: Russia says it shot down its own drones flying to Mykolaiv region

Destroyed drone, illustrative photo: Getty Images

Russia says it shot down its own drones flying towards energy facilities in the Mykolaiv region on 19 March after talks with Trump.

This was stated by the Russian Ministry of Defence.

According to the Russian ministry, this happened after the order to stop strikes on the Ukrainian energy system, which came after Putin's talks with Trump.

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«After the Putin-Trump talks, the Russian military received an order from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to stop strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the Ministry of Defence said. At that moment, seven Russian drones were in the air, targeting Ukrainian energy facilities in Mykolaiv region related to the military-industrial complex. Russian air defence was ordered to neutralise the drones, six of which were shot down», the ministry said.

At the same time, following the talks between Putin and Trump, Russia accused Kyiv of organising an attack on an energy infrastructure facility in Krasnodar region that took place on the night of 19 March. The attack resulted in the depressurisation of an oil tank and a fire over an area of 1,700 square metres. The fire is currently being extinguished by rescuers.

What is known about Trump's phone call with Putin?

The phone call lasted 1.5 hours. During the call, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported US President Donald Trump's proposal to temporarily suspend strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days and gave the appropriate command to the military.

US President Donald Trump also commented on his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In particular, according to him, the conversation went «well and productively».

It also became known that the peace talks will begin with technical discussions on the implementation of a naval truce in the Black Sea. According to the White House, negotiations on a naval truce will begin in the Middle East in the near future.