At least four individuals lost their lives in what appears to be the most extensive Ukrainian drone strike in months on Moscow and its neighboring areas, as indicated by Russian authorities.
The Russian defense ministry reported that nearly 600 Ukrainian drones conducted strikes overnight across 14 Russian regions, including the Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea, and the Azov Sea.
Authorities confirmed three fatalities in the Moscow region and one in the Belgorod region, with Russian air defenses successfully intercepting and downing 556 drones overnight.
Tragedy struck in the city of Khimki, near Moscow, where a woman died when her house was hit by drones in a significant strike on the Moscow region. The local governor mentioned that one person was still trapped under debris.
Furthermore, two men perished in the village of Pogorelki, situated north of Moscow, after drone debris fell on a construction site. The governor highlighted damage to unspecified infrastructure and multiple high-rise buildings caused by Ukrainian drones.
In Moscow, at least a dozen individuals sustained injuries during the nighttime assaults, primarily around the entrance to the city’s oil refinery, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
State agency Tass reported that Russian defenses intercepted 81 drones targeting Moscow overnight, marking the most substantial attack on the capital in over a year.
Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport noted that drone debris landed on its premises without resulting in damage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously indicated that additional drone strikes would be launched in response to a deadly three-day Russian offensive across Ukraine.
The recent assaults have been described by military officials as the most significant barrage of the conflict. Zelenskyy asserted that targeting Russia’s oil industry and military production facilities was a justified tactic to impede Moscow’s war efforts and hold accountable those responsible for war crimes against Ukraine.
Since February 2022, Russia has been engaged in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and carried out over 1,500 drone attacks and numerous missile strikes during consecutive waves of assaults on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
A tragic incident occurred in Kyiv on Thursday when a cruise missile hit a nine-story apartment building, resulting in 24 fatalities, including three children.
Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting 279 Russian drones overnight out of a total of 287 launched.
Following the end of a three-day truce last Tuesday, Moscow and Kyiv resumed exchanging attacks, with diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict at a stalemate due to Kyiv’s refusal to concede to Moscow’s territorial demands in the eastern Donbas region. Meanwhile, US focus has shifted to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
