Moscow: At least three people were killed in the Moscow region when Ukraine attacked Russia with hundreds of drones overnight, local authorities said on Sunday. Another five people were injured as several residential buildings were damaged and caught fire in the Moscow region, Governor Andrei Vorobyov wrote on Telegram.
According to Ghana News Agency, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 12 construction workers were injured during an attack on an oil refinery in the Russian capital. The site itself remains operational, he added. Despite Moscow having one of the most effective and extensive air defense systems in Russia, the capital has been previously targeted by Ukrainian drones. The recent strikes were among the heaviest Ukrainian attacks seen in Moscow since the start of the Russian invasion more than four years ago.
Passengers faced extended delays at Moscow's airports, as take-offs and landings were temporarily suspended due to the attacks. Numerous flights were either cancelled or rerouted to alternative airports. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that a total of 586 Ukrainian drones were downed across various regions overnight, while Moscow Mayor Sobyanin mentioned that more than 120 drones had been intercepted within 24 hours over the capital.
In a related incident, a man was reportedly killed in the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border when a lorry was struck by a drone, although there was initially no official confirmation from authorities.
Ukraine also launched attacks on the Russian-occupied Black Sea peninsula of Crimea overnight, which resulted in damage to several apartment blocks in the capital Sevastopol, according to local authorities. Debris from a downed drone hit a high-voltage power line, leading to power outages, Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram. Nevertheless, the city's power station remained unaffected. Razvozhayev stated that a total of 25 drones were shot down over the city and the Black Sea. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, but the peninsula is still recognized internationally as Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the strikes on Moscow and the surrounding region as 'entirely justified,' viewing them as a response to Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine. He noted that the concentration of Russian air defense in the Moscow region is the highest, yet Ukraine is overcoming it. Zelensky emphasized that Ukrainian long-range drones had struck targets up to 500 kilometers from the border, sending a clear message to Russia to end its war. He expressed gratitude to Ukraine's security service SBU and the armed forces for their 'precision.'
The Ukrainian attacks followed one of Russia's heaviest and longest air assaults on Ukraine. Zelensky stated that 52 people had been killed and 346 injured, including 22 children, over the past week due to Russian attacks. He reported that Russia deployed more than 3,170 attack drones, over 1,300 guided aerial bombs, and 74 missiles of various types, mostly ballistic, against Ukraine in that period. Ukraine's air defense reported that Russia attacked again with around 300 drones overnight, with 279 being intercepted.