Ukrainian Drones Hit Moscow, Killing 3 and Injuring Dozens, Russian Authorities Say

Ukrainian drones hit Moscow and the surrounding region overnight Saturday, killing 3 people and injuring at least a dozen, Russian authorities said in the Washington Post’s account of the attack.

The Washington Post described it as “the largest and deadliest attack on the Russian capital region since President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.”

Al Jazeera

In the same weekend campaign, the Russian Defense Ministry reported shooting down 556 drones heading toward Moscow between Saturday night and Sunday morning, according to El País.

El País also said the wave of Ukrainian drones “breached the capital’s defensive rings,” with bombs striking energy facilities, Russian military factories, and some residential buildings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy framed the strike as a response to Russia’s broader campaign, saying the attack was “entirely justified” and that it proved “the concentration of Russian air defense in the Moscow region is the highest. But we are overcoming it.”

TVP World also reported that Zelenskyy said the operation struck various Russian infrastructure and killed at least four.

Al-Jazeera Net

In contrast, El País highlighted a Kremlin-linked exchange, quoting Pável Zarubin pointing to Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov and asking, “So what? It seems you can just nibble and bite at a nuclear power.”

El País further reported that the Russian Ministry of Defense said it shot down 556 drones heading for Moscow between Saturday night and Sunday morning, while also describing at least three civilians dying in the chaos.

The weekend drone barrage was described by Politico.eu as Ukraine’s largest one-time deep strike so far in the war, with Kyiv claiming hits on the Angstrem factory, the Moscow oil refinery, and oil pumping stations in Solnechnogorsk and Volodarskoye.

“Moscow residents were left shaken last weekend by one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks of the entire war”

Atlantic Council

Politico.eu also said the attack led to more than 50 civilian flights being redirected and more than 30 being delayed, citing Russia’s transport ministry.

Politico.eu reported that Russia downplayed the impact, with the ministry of defense and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reporting 714 drones were shot down, including more than 120 over Moscow and its suburbs.

El País tied the episode to a wider cycle of retaliation and counter-retaliation, noting that the Kremlin responded this Monday with another wave of conventional bombs that left several civilians injured in Dnipro and Odesa, and that at least 24 people had died in a ballistic missile attack on Kiev last week.