Ukraine launches 144 drones in attack over Russia, Moscow says

(LONDON and MOSCOW) — Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday it downed 144 Ukrainian drones during a major overnight attack over nine regions in the west of the country, including the Moscow area.

The ministry described the operation as “a terrorist attack using unmanned aerial vehicles.” It reported 72 drones downed over the Bryansk region, 14 over Kursk, 13 over Tula, eight over Belgorod, seven over Kaluga, five over Voronezh, four over Lipetsk and one over Oryol.

At least 20 drones flew over Moscow, according to the defense ministry.

Moscow regional Gov. Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram that one 46-year-old woman died in Ramenskoye in the southeast of the city when a drone hit a residential building — the first time a Moscow resident has been killed in a Ukrainian drone attack.

Three others were injured in Ramenskoye and hospitalized. Another 43 people were taken to temporary accommodation centers. Three buildings in the town were hit, with 54 apartments damaged.

Operations at three of the capital’s four airports were disrupted during the attack. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said fragments of one downed drone fell on the runway at Zhukovsky International Airport southeast of the capital. Emergency crews were deployed to deal with “the consequences” of the incident, Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.

The mayor said that drone fragments also fell on a home in the town of Troitsk southwest of the capital, causing no casualties.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the attack. Kyiv generally does not confirm or deny responsibility for strikes within Russian borders.

Russia also continued its long-range attacks on Ukraine into Tuesday morning. Ukraine’s air force reported one Iskander-M ballistic missile, one Kh-31P anti-radar missile and 48 Shahed attack drones fired into the country overnight.

Thirty-eight of the drones were shot down, three left Ukrainian airspace and three more were lost over Ukrainian territory, likely due to electronic warfare measures, the air force said.

Air raid sirens sounded over Kyiv on Tuesday morning, with the air force warning residents of a possible attack drone strike. Air raid alerts were active in 13 regions of the country.