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Drones hit Moscow
Ukraine launched a mass drone attack targeting Moscow while Russia bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missiles, and a local official said at least one person was killed and three were wounded in the Ukrainian drone barrage targeting Moscow.
““201 drones were destroyed in Moscow region””
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it destroyed 822 drones across the country overnight, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote that the city was targeted with 600 drones and that “201 drones were destroyed in Moscow region”.
Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow oblast, wrote on Telegram that an 83-year-old man was killed when a drone hit a private home, and the same report said at least five people were killed in attacks on southern Russia’s Rostov region.
In Kyiv, officials said the capital was “under ballistic missile attack” late on Saturday, with at least one person wounded and fires sparked at nonresidential sites in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.
Romania’s Ministry of National Defence reported that a Spanish F-18 jet on a NATO air policing mission to Romania shot down a drone breaching its airspace, with NATO spokesman Martin O’Donnell saying the alliance is prepared to defend itself.
Escalation and civilian toll
A Russian expert warned that record civilian deaths in Ukrainian cities are beginning to cause social crisis, saying Russian ballistic missile attacks have begun to cause record civilian deaths in Ukrainian cities without any Patriot interceptors to stop them.
The United Nations said Russia killed a record 437 people in July and injured 2,610, surpassing its previous record in June by 30 percent, and the same account said civilian casualties have continued in August because Ukraine has run out of Patriot interceptors.
Ukraine’s long-range strikes were described as disrupting Russian logistics, and the report said that since June 25 Ukraine has launched a campaign of mid-range strikes to disrupt Russian logistics and has harassed fuel and ammunition supplies so effectively that it has made 233sq km (90 square miles) of territorial gains this year.
By August 16, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces announced it had put 228 supply ships out of action in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, as well as destroying 243 power stations, electricity substations and gas distribution nodes in Crimea.
In a separate day of attacks, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram that after a ballistic missile warning there was one killed and many injured in a warehouse fire in the Dariynetsky district, and the Ukrainian president called the drone attack “cowardly” while urging international pressure on Russia to ensure accountability.
Allies, air policing, and response
Ukraine’s allies were set to strengthen support as the Ukrainian president said the attack drones struck in two waves, with a second strike hitting emergency teams after half an hour from the first strike, and he called it “cowardly” while urging international community pressure on Russia.
“chaired jointly by French President Emmanuel Macron”
Politically, the sources said allies of Ukraine will hold a video conference next Monday, chaired jointly by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with European Council President Charles Michel and NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană participating.
In parallel, Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said a Spanish F-18 fighter jet shot down a drone that breached Romanian airspace, and the Defence Ministry wrote that the drone came from neighbouring Moldova.
The Associated Press described Ukraine’s Sunday aerial campaign as launching hundreds of drones across Russia, killing at least six people in one of Kyiv’s largest aerial attacks of the war, while Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it destroyed 822 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ukraine’s response to strikes was framed by Zelenskyy’s warning that “Wherever the Russians can reach with their ballistic missiles, they strike civilian infrastructure,” as the BBC reported six people injured at a market in Kyiv after Russian strikes.