Ukraine launched more than 550 drones across Russia overnight in one of the largest cross-border attacks since the start of the war, Russian officials said on Sunday. At least four people died in strikes around Moscow and Belgorod as drones hit residential districts, oil infrastructure and areas close to Russia’s busiest airport.
Russia’s defence ministry said air defences intercepted 556 drones between Saturday night and Sunday morning across 14 regions, Crimea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Officials said at least 81 drones approached Moscow during the attack.
The assault followed a pledge by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to intensify strikes inside Russia after a Russian missile and drone barrage on Kyiv earlier this week killed 24 people. Zelensky described that assault as one of the largest attacks on Ukraine since the war began.
The Moscow region suffered the heaviest damage. Regional governor Andrei Vorobiev said a woman died in the suburb of Khimki north of the capital after a house collapsed. Rescue crews searched the site for another possible victim. Two men died in the village of Pogorelki in the Mytishchi district.
Reuters reported that another person died in the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border.
Several apartment blocks and private homes across the Moscow region sustained damage. Fires broke out in at least one residential area south-west of the capital.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said drones struck near the city’s oil refinery, injuring 12 people and damaging nearby buildings. He told Russian state agency Tass that the refinery itself did not suffer damage.
Debris from intercepted drones also landed on the grounds of Sheremetyevo International Airport. Airport authorities said operations continued and no injuries were reported.
Russia’s aviation agencies imposed temporary restrictions at several airports during the attack.
In a series of messages posted on X on Saturday, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had struck Russian military and energy targets during the past week. He said Ukraine destroyed aircraft, anti-aircraft systems, a helicopter and a cargo vessel carrying ammunition.
Among the targets cited by Zelensky was a Beriev Be-200 amphibious aircraft at Yeysk airbase on the Sea of Azov. The aircraft type has served in rescue operations and firefighting missions but Russian forces also used it for maritime patrol and transport during the war.
The overnight attack marked the latest escalation after a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv and the collapse of a three-day ceasefire that ended on Tuesday.
Russia also launched a new wave of attacks on Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian officials said drones and shelling hit several districts in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Regional official Oleksandr Hanzha said eight people suffered injuries and multiple homes were destroyed or damaged. Three people were injured in the city of Dnipro and emergency crews responded to several fires.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 287 drones since late Saturday. It claimed 279 were intercepted or destroyed, though eight strikes reached targets in seven locations.
A separate Russian drone strike injured a woman in the Zaporizhzhia region on Saturday evening, according to local authorities.
HT