Ukraine launches largest drone strike on Russia, multiple casualties and widespread damage reported
Ukraine has launched the largest drone attack on Russian territory since the war began, with Russia's Ministry of Defense reporting the interception of 337 Ukrainian drones in various regions of the country. The attack coincided with negotiations between Ukrainian and U.S. representatives in Saudi Arabia.
The main target was Russia's capital region, with 91 drones shot down over the Moscow area, according to Russia's Defense Ministry. The attack in the Moscow Region resulted in 20 injuries and 1 death, according to Baza and Shot. Among the injured were three children, and a 37-year-old security guard was killed while on duty in the Miratorg parking lot in Domodedovo. Shot reported that the guard was at his post when the drones attacked. Two other employees were wounded.
Another victim has died in the hospital following the drone attack on the Moscow Region, Governor Andrey Vorobyov reported.
The deceased was a 50-year-old man who was injured in the parking lot of the Miratorg center in Domodedovo. Another victim, a 44-year-old man, was hospitalized with abdominal injuries, an open shoulder fracture, and a shrapnel wound to the shin. A 43-year-old woman also suffered abdominal injuries with bowel damage and a lacerated chest wound, Vorobyov wrote.
A drone struck an apartment building in Ramenskoye, damaging at least seven apartments and forcing 12 residents to evacuate, based on information from Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov. Drones also damaged several apartment buildings in Vidnoe and one in Moscow, Baza reports. There was also a drone strike on a cottage in the Vysokiy Bereg settlement in Ramenskoye. Railroad tracks were damaged in the Moscow Region, and debris from one of the drones fell into a park in the Kapotnya district of Moscow, home to a Gazpromneft oil refinery, reports Mash.
Besides the capital region, other areas of Russia were also under attack. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that 126 drones were shot down over the Kursk region, 38 over Bryansk, 25 over Belgorod, 22 over Ryazan, 10 over Kaluga, 8 each over Lipetsk and Orel, 6 over Voronezh, and 3 over Nizhny Novgorod. In Belgorod, a power line was damaged, leaving 36 settlements without electricity, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.
Until today, the largest recorded attack was on January 14, when the Russian Defense Ministry reported shooting down 180 drones. In the capital region, only one drone-related fatality had been recorded until now—a case in Ramenskoye on September 10, 2024.
The largest Ukrainian drone strike occurred on February 23, 2024, when President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that 267 drones were launched. A significant Russian attack on Ukraine took place on the night of March 7, 2024, with Russia launching 67 missiles and 194 drones.