Russian defenses shot down more than 500 Ukrainian drones in an offensive that left several dead and wounded.
Nuevo
Agregar La Derecha Diario en
Compartir:
Moscow was the scene during the early hours of Sunday of one of the largest drone attacks launched by Ukraine since the beginning of the war, in a massive offensive that caused deaths, injuries, and material damage in various parts of the Russian capital and its surroundings.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, air defenses intercepted and destroyed 556 Ukrainian drones over fourteen regions of the country, as well as the Crimean Peninsula and areas of the Black and Azov Seas.
Russian authorities described the episode as one of the most intense attacks recorded against Russian territory since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Although Moscow has a sophisticated tiered air defense system, several drones managed to overcome the protective barriers and reach strategic targets and residential areas.
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, confirmed the death of at least three civilians and reported several injuries. A woman died after a drone struck a house in the Starbéevo district of Jimki, a satellite city located northwest of the capital. Additionally, a man was trapped under the rubble of the destroyed building.
In the locality of Pogorelki, in the Mitischi district, two other men died when debris from a downed drone fell on a construction site. Vorobyov added that in several localities near Moscow, such as Krasnogorsk and Istra, damage was reported to residential buildings and private homes, as well as several injuries resulting from explosions and falling debris.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, reported that twelve people were injured, most of them workers at the Moscow refinery, one of the targets hit by the drones. He detailed that the operational process of the plant was not interrupted despite the attack.
During the early hours, residents of areas near Domodedovo International Airport reported loud explosions. Between 04:00 and 06:00 local time, more than twenty detonations were heard in various sectors of southern Moscow. News agencies indicated that they were able to identify at least two long-range Ukrainian drones of the Liuti type, recognizable by their inverted V-shaped tail.
As a consequence of the attack, aviation authorities temporarily suspended operations at the four international airports in Moscow. At Sheremetyevo Airport, even debris from drones intercepted by Russian air defenses fell.
The governor of the Moscow Oblast confirmed the death of at least three people and stated that the attack also left several injured.
From Kiev, Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyjustified the offensive and stated that it is a legitimate response to the daily attacks launched by Russia on Ukrainian cities and towns. In a message posted on social media, Zelensky asserted that the operations aim to pressure Moscow to stop the war.
The president described the actions as ''long-range sanctions'' aimed at demonstrating to the Russian population that their government must end the conflict. He also thanked the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Defense Forces for reaching targets located more than 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The SBU later reported that among the targets hit were the Moscow refinery operated by Gazprom, oil pumping facilities in Sonechnogorska and Volodarskoye, and the Angstrem factory, dedicated to the production of military-use semiconductors and previously sanctioned by the United States.
Meanwhile, Russia also continued its campaign of attacks on Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that during the same night Russian forces launched 287 drones against various regions of the country. According to Kiev, 279 of those devices were intercepted or neutralized.
From Ukraine, Zelensky justified the attack and pointed to it as a legitimate response to the attacks carried out by Russia.
Among the drones used by Russia were Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas models, as well as decoy drones of the Parodia type intended to saturate Ukrainian air defenses. Eight drones managed to hit seven unspecified targets and fragments of downed devices fell in other areas of the country.
Although Moscow has been a frequent target of Ukrainian drones in recent months, attacks of this magnitude are uncommon due to the distance of more than 400 kilometers between the Russian capital and the Ukrainian border. The episode represents a new escalation in the air war between the two countries, which resumed their massive bombings after the end of a temporary three-day truce negotiated under U.S. mediation during the commemorations of the end of World War II in Russia.
