Moscow, May 25: Russian President Vladimir Putin's helicopter was caught in the "epicentre" of a massive Ukrainian drone offensive during his first visit to the liberated Kursk Region earlier this week, a Russian military commander has revealed.

However, air defence units in the region managed to beat off the attack and ensured the safety of the President, an air defence division commander, Yury Dashkin, told channel Russia 1 in an interview aired on Sunday, RT reported.

Putin’s helicopter had found itself "in the epicentre of an operation to repel a massive drone attack by the enemy” in Kursk Region, Dashkin said.

In his first visit to Kursk Region on Tuesday, after it was fully liberated from Ukrainian forces in April, Putin met Governor Aleksandr Khinshtein, as well as the heads of local municipalities and volunteers who have been helping those affected by the now-repulsed Ukrainian incursion, according to the Kremlin.

However, at that time, Ukraine launched an "unprecedented" UAV assault on the region, but Dashkin said that Russian air defences destroyed 46 incoming fixed-wing UAVs, according to Dashkin.

"I would like to stress the fact that the intensity of the attacks during the flight of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s aircraft over the territory of Kursk Region increased significantly," he said.

The air defence units in the area had to "simultaneously conduct anti-aircraft combat and ensure the safety of the President’s helicopter in the air. The task was accomplished. The attack of the enemy drones was repelled, with all aerial targets being hit", Dashkin added.

As per Russia, Ukraine significantly intensified its drone strikes inside the country this past week. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow reported that 764 drones had been intercepted over Russian territory between Tuesday and Friday. According to the Defence Ministry, the scale of the assault has not abated, with hundreds more UAVs being destroyed on Saturday and Sunday.

--IANS

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