Hundreds of Ukrainian Drones Downed Near Moscow

By Staff, Agencies

Russian air defenses intercepted more than 60 Ukrainian drones heading toward Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, with officials describing it as one of Kiev's largest attempted UAV attacks on the Russian capital in recent years.

Sobyanin posted a string of updates on Telegram on Sunday as Russian air defenses continued to intercept incoming UAVs, with the number of drones downed near Moscow rising from 50 to more than 60 by the end of the day.

“Most of these drones were intercepted by air defense systems at long range before reaching the area,” Sobyanin said earlier.

I further said that around 300 UAVs had targeted the Moscow Region over the previous 24 hours.

According to the mayor, only 45 drones were intercepted on direct approach to the city itself, with the majority destroyed farther from the capital.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses had intercepted nearly 350 fixed-wing kamikaze drones over Russian territory, as well as above the Black and Azov seas.

The attacks also disrupted air traffic around the capital. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency [Rosaviatsia] temporarily restricted operations at Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports, saying the measures were introduced to ensure flight safety.

The attack follows Ukraine's intensified long-range campaign targeting Russia's economy, energy infrastructure, maritime traffic, and civilian sites.

Russia has described the intensified Ukrainian strikes as indiscriminate attacks intended to divert attention from setbacks on the battlefield, and has responded with a renewed campaign of long-range strikes.

The Russian military maintains it never targets purely civilian facilities in Ukraine, striking dual-use and military industrial sites.

Notably, the bulk of the Russian strikes have been focused on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with multiple military plants, drone assembly and storage facilities, and weaponry stockpiles targeted over the past weeks.