Ukraine Launches Mass Drone Strikes on Moscow Region
The Guardian reported Sunday that Ukraine launched nearly 600 drones at Russia overnight, killing at least four people and wounding several others across multiple regions including the area surrounding Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previewed the campaign on Friday. He said Ukraine was fully justified in targeting Russian oil infrastructure and military production sites. He also cited the need to hold accountable those responsible for alleged war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.
A Wave of Strikes Across 14 Regions
The Russian defence ministry confirmed the drone wave hit 14 regions, the Crimean peninsula, and both the Black and Azov seas. Air defence units shot down 556 drones during the night. A further 30 were neutralised after dawn broke.
Moscow’s regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said three people died in his territory. A woman was killed when her home was struck in Khimki, just north of the capital. Two construction workers died near the village of Pogorelki after drone debris hit their worksite. Rescuers were still searching rubble for a further missing person.
Moscow city Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences intercepted more than 80 drones over the capital itself. Twelve people sustained injuries there. Debris damaged three houses near a major oil and gas refinery, though Sobyanin confirmed refinery operations were not disrupted. Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, Russia’s largest, said drone debris landed inside its perimeter but caused no damage.
In the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border, one man was killed when a drone struck a lorry on a road.
Background: Tit-for-Tat After a Broken Truce
The overnight attack followed a brutal three-day Russian air campaign last week. Russian forces fired more than 1,500 drones and dozens of missiles at Ukrainian targets across consecutive nights. A cruise missile struck a nine-storey residential block in Kyiv on Thursday alone, killing 24 people including three children.
The violence resumed after a brief three-day ceasefire collapsed. The truce had been called to mark the anniversary of Allied victory in the Second World War. Both sides accused each other of violations before the pause ended last Tuesday.
Diplomacy Struggles to Keep Pace
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022 and the conflict has now entered its fifth year. Peace negotiations have produced no durable agreement. Each cycle of strikes and counter-strikes is widening the civilian toll on both sides.
Ukraine’s air force also reported intercepting 279 of 287 Russian drones launched in a separate overnight barrage, underlining how intensive the aerial exchange has become on both fronts.
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