China-Mongolia border port handles record number of international travelers

The land port of Erenhot, the largest on the China-Mongolia border, has registered record-high numbers in inbound and outbound travelers, local authorities said Saturday.

As of 18:00 Saturday, the land port had handled 2.596 million personnel entries and exits and some 693,000 vehicles, up 9.2 and 12.6 percent year on year, respectively, according to the port's entry-exit border inspection station.

This year, travelers from more than 70 countries and regions passed through this key transportation hub, with a peak of nearly 14,000 trips in a single day.

Russia's military said on Tuesday that its air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 280 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and 13 rockets of U.S.-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system over the past 24 hours, while Ukraine's commander-in-chief admitted that the Ukrainian forces are facing the most serious challenges since the conflict broke out.

Russian aerospace forces also shot down a Ukrainian air force Su-27 aircraft in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that its troops attacked Ukrainian targets in 157 locations including the Ukrainian army's energy infrastructure facilities and sites for the storage of long-range UAVs.

Since the start of conflict, Russia has destroyed 669 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 283 helicopters and 101,411 drones, according to the ministry.

In total, it said, 639 surface-to-air missile systems, 26,467 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,627 multiple rocket launchers, 31,815 field artillery pieces and mortars, and 48,692 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed.

Also on Tuesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Ukrainian troops engaged in 139 combats with Russian soldiers on the front lines over the past day. Ukrainian forces implemented offensives against Russia's artillery system, drone control points and other targets.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian forces are facing "some of the most serious challenges" since the start of the war as Russia is intensifying offensive actions.