Ukraine launches one of the largest drone attacks on Moscow

HEADLINES IN BRIEF

Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region overnight; Russia's Defense Ministry said over 556 Ukrainian drones were downed. READ MORE BELOW

Four people were killed and at least 17 wounded; three residential buildings were damaged in Moscow. READ MORE BELOW

Confirmed targets included Moscow's Kapotnya oil refinery, the Elma technology park in Zelenograd and Solnechnogorsk oil pumping station. READ MORE BELOW

Ukraine's Security Service said the strikes hit "oil logistics sites and defense-industry facilities," calling them "entirely justified"; President Zelenskyy had vowed retaliation after Russia's heaviest attack on Kyiv in over four years.

The attack: scale and targets

Ukraine's overnight drone strike on Moscow and the Moscow region was one of the largest of the conflict by several measures. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 80 drones were intercepted on approach to the capital, with the total for the preceding 24-hour period exceeding 120. 

Russia's Defense Ministry reported 556 Ukrainian drones downed across 14 regions nationwide — the highest single-day figure recorded.

Confirmed strike targets, according to Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and open-source analysts, included the Kapotnya oil refinery in southeast Moscow, the Elma industrial and technology park in Zelenograd, which produces electronic and optical equipment and was struck last year as well, and the Solnechnogorsk oil storage and transit station in Durykino village. 

A fire was recorded near Sheremetyevo airport's third runway. 

Casualties and residential damage

Four people were killed. Three died in the Moscow region. One person was killed in the Belgorod region. At least 17 people were wounded. One person remained trapped under rubble in Khimki.

Residential buildings were damaged in Moscow, Zelenograd, Khimki, Krasnogorsk, Dedovsk, Naro-Fominsky district, and Sergiev Posad, where the local governor said four homes were destroyed. In Moscow, one drone struck an apartment building on Mikhailova Street. 

Transport disruption

The attack caused significant disruption to Moscow's air traffic. Sheremetyevo's online departures board showed more than 200 flights delayed or cancelled. 

Aeroflot said it redirected some arriving aircraft to backup airports. According to the Transport Ministry, 32 outbound flights were delayed and 51 diverted.

No sirens, no warnings

Residents across affected areas reported that air raid sirens did not sound and no SMS alerts were issued during the attack. Social media channels in Khimki, Mytishchi, Zelenograd, and Lobnya filled with complaints from residents who said they had no warning. 

Emergency line 112 was consistently engaged during the strike. Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said air defense units began intercepting drones from 3 a.m., but gave no explanation for the absence of public warnings.

Ukraine's stated rationale

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the strikes "entirely justified." He vowed retaliation on Friday after Russia launched its heaviest combined drone and missile attack on Kyiv over a two-day period since the start of the conflict.

Ukraine's Security Service said on Telegram: "Strikes on defense-industry facilities, military infrastructure and oil logistics sites reduce the enemy's ability to continue its war against Ukraine. These attacks show that even the heavily protected Moscow region is not safe."

An adviser to Ukraine's defense minister, Serhiy Sternenko, said: "The most large-scale attack on the Moscow region since the start of the war has been carried out. But there will be even larger ones. Including on Moscow itself."

Russian response

Russia launched 287 drones at Ukraine overnight, wounding eight people in the Dnipropetrovsk region. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blamed European governments for financing the attack, saying it was carried out "to the sounds of Eurovision songs" and on "EU money."

She called the strikes "mass terrorism" targeting exclusively civilian sites and described them as "crimes of Zelenskyy and the collective Western minority that funds him."