Russia’s Ministry of Defense has claimed that its forces shot down their own kamikaze drones intended to strike Ukrainian energy infrastructure on the orders of President Vladimir Putin.

According to the ministry’s statement, Russian air defense units destroyed six drones using Pantsir anti-aircraft systems, while another was downed by a fighter jet from the Russian Aerospace Forces.

The ministry claimed that the drones were originally targeting energy facilities linked to Ukraine’s defense industry in the Mykolaiv region.

The Russian statement alleges that this decision followed negotiations between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, though there is no confirmation of this.

Ukraine’s General Staff, Air Force, and other official sources have not confirmed the Russian claims.

Military sources have also not verified that Russian forces shot down their own Shahed-type loitering munitions.

Despite Moscow’s claims, Russia launched a large-scale attack on March 19, 2025, coinciding with and following the reported Putin-Trump talks. Russia used for this attack two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, four S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, 145 Shahed-type attack drones, and other UAVs.

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, defenders shot down 72 Shahed drones and other UAVs across 12 regions, including Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Poltava.

It is also reported that 56 enemy simulator drones were lost in location.

The Russian attack affected the Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions.

The Russian statement is likely disinformation, possibly aimed at influencing ongoing negotiations and undermining Ukraine’s credibility, and there were no self-inflicted Russian drone losses.

During a recent attack on Ukraine, a Russian Geran-2 (Shahed-136) kamikaze drone, tail number Ы18358, crashed in Kazakhstan, highlighting continued operational failures in Russia’s drone campaign.