Overview

• Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses destroyed 11 Ukrainian-type drones over Crimea and the Black Sea between 18:00 and 23:00 Moscow time on September 24.
• Civil-defense apps and local leaders issued short-lived rocket or drone warnings in Crimea, Krasnodar Krai, Tula region, Kabardino‑Balkaria, and Taganrog, with authorities noting air-defense activity and later cancellations in several areas.
• Krasnodar officials reported attacks that included strikes in Novorossiysk with two dead and fourteen injured, and Sochi restricted beach access until the first half of September 25 to allow checks for unmanned surface threats.
• Lithuania’s Seimas approved amendments enabling the defense minister or a designee to order shootdowns of drones posing a threat, alongside faster activation of restricted airspace and new communication requirements for pilots.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said NATO should not open fire on Russian aircraft over alleged incursions, and a NATO cyber center official, cited by the Times, described a mechanism for covert “preventive” cyber operations.