Over 140 Ukrainian drones overnight targeted several Russian regions, including the capital Moscow and surrounding areas, Russian officials reported Tuesday, in one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian soil in the 2 1/2-year war.
In the town of Ramenskoye just outside Moscow, drones hit two multi-story buildings and started fires, said Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov. One woman was killed and three more people were injured. Five residential buildings near one of the injured were evacuated as emergency services dealt with drone debris, Vorobyov said.
The attack also prompted authorities to temporarily close three airports just outside Moscow – Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky. A total of 48 flights were diverted to other airports, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia.
In Moscow, drone debris fell on a private house on the outskirts of the city, but no one was injured, says Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. He counted over a dozen drones headed for Moscow that were shot down by anti-aircraft fire as they approached the city.
In all, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it “intercepted and destroyed” 144 Ukrainian drones across nine Russian regions, including those on the border with Ukraine and those deeper inside Russia.
It is the second massive Ukrainian drone strike against Russia this month. On September 1, the Russian military said it intercepted 158 Ukrainian drones over a dozen Russian regions in what Russian media described as the largest Ukrainian drone surge since the start of the war.