MOSCOW, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian air defense systems shot down 142 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones and captured a new settlement in the special military operation zone over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.
According to the ministry, Russian forces took control of the settlement of Bratskoye in the Dnipropetrovsk region through active operations, expanding the bridgehead on the western bank of the Haichur River.
The operation created favorable conditions for further advances by Russian forces, the ministry said, adding that its forces seized more than 9 square kilometers of Ukrainian defensive positions in the area.
The ministry also noted that Russian forces have carried out strikes on targets in 152 areas, encompassing energy facilities and port infrastructure used by Ukrainian military forces, drone assembly and storage sites, as well as the temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries, it added. ■