Russian anti-aircraft units destroyed 19 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean peninsula and three more over other parts of Russia, the Defence Ministry said early on Thursday.
"In the night from 20th to 21st September, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to commit a terrorist attack with lethal drones on sites in the Russian Federation was intercepted," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
The ministry report said the three other drones were downed over Kursk, Belgorod and Orlov regions in central and southern Russia. It gave no details on casualties or damage.
Ukrainian forces are launching attacks with increasing frequency on targets in Crimea, seized and annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine normally does not claim responsibility for such attacks. But on Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said its forces struck a Russian Black Sea fleet command post near Sevastopol in Crimea.