Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces downed at least 66 Ukrainian drones overnight into Tuesday morning. Among the areas targeted was the southwestern Voronezh region which borders northeastern Ukraine. At least 16 people were injured there, Gov. Aleksandr Gusev said on Telegram.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Wednesday that countries such as Brazil, China and India could be hit very hard by secondary sanctions if they continued to do business with Russia.

“The report is very murky and very inexact,” said Bjorn Fehrm, an aerospace engineer and analyst at aviation consultancy Leeham News and Analysis.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un assured Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of his “unconditional” support in the war against Ukraine, considering Moscow’s victory “certain,” North Korea’s official press reported on Sunday,