Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Russia since the war began, with Moscow claiming 791 drones were intercepted overnight, while a Russian missile strike on a village in northeastern Ukraine killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 17 others.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Ukraine launched a massive overnight drone attack against Russia, sending nearly 800 unmanned aircraft toward multiple regions in one of the largest such strikes since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began more than four years ago.
The attack came only two days after another major Ukrainian drone salvo and marked the latest escalation in a long-range aerial campaign that has increasingly extended deep inside Russian territory.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 791 Ukrainian drones overnight across several Russian regions, annexed Crimea, and the Black and Azov seas.
According to an Associated Press tally, the attack was the second-largest Ukrainian drone operation since January 2025.
The Moscow region was a principal target.
More than 600 Ukrainian drones were directed toward the region surrounding the Russian capital, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who said 180 were shot down.
Officials did not report deaths or major damage in the Moscow region, although three people were wounded, according to regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov.
Another three people were wounded in neighboring Ryazan, where three private homes were damaged, Gov. Pavel Malkov said.
Ukraine has increasingly relied on large drone swarms involving hundreds of aircraft in an effort to penetrate or overwhelm Russian air-defense systems.
The overnight operation also ignited a fire at a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, in an industrial area.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the company, alleging that it assists in supplying the Russian military. Moscow denies that accusation.
Wildberries said its facility sustained “insignificant damage.”
Long-Range Strikes Intensify
Ukraine has expanded its ability over the past year to manufacture and deploy domestically produced long-range drones capable of reaching targets well inside Russia.
The technology has drawn attention from governments and defense manufacturers around the world.
Kyiv has sought to use those attacks both against Russian infrastructure and to bring the effects of the war closer to the Russian population in hopes of increasing pressure on President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a settlement.
Putin has so far shown no indication that he intends to end the invasion.
“Putin continues to drag out the war instead of accepting Ukraine’s realistic ceasefire proposals and ending the bloodshed,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
The two countries are increasingly engaged in reciprocal long-range missile and drone attacks while the ground war remains largely constrained along an approximately 1,250-kilometer, or 780-mile, front stretching across eastern and southern Ukraine.
Large numbers of drones and ground robots have made troop movement increasingly dangerous, and analysts say neither side is currently achieving significant battlefield advances.
Russian Television Largely Silent on Drone Barrage
Despite the scale of the Ukrainian attack, coverage across Russia’s state-controlled television networks was limited.
Russia 1 and Channel One, the country’s main state-run television channels, did not mention the attack during their morning news broadcasts.
Other Kremlin-aligned media outlets did report the strikes.
State news agency RIA Novosti placed the attack among the leading stories on its website and described it as “one of the most large-scale attacks on Moscow since the beginning of the summer.”
The state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta prominently published a roundup of Vorobyov’s statements and described the drone operation as “massive” in its headline.
The pro-Kremlin tabloid MK also carried a brief report about the attack on its homepage.
Russian Missile Strike Kills 10 in Kharkiv Region
As Ukrainian drones struck Russia, a Russian missile hit the village of Pechenihy in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
At least 10 civilians were killed, according to preliminary information released by Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.
Another 17 people were wounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the strike as “a brutal attack.”
According to Syniehubov, the missile damaged 10 homes, a cafe, a post office, a store and at least seven vehicles.
“We will definitely respond to this Russian strike,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
Russian attacks elsewhere in Ukraine also caused casualties.
Three people were killed and three others wounded during the previous day in attacks on Ukraine’s Sumy region, according to Ukraine’s National Police.
Britain Pledges Continued Support for Ukraine
The escalating strikes also brought renewed tensions between Moscow and London over allegations that British-made drones have been used by Ukraine to attack Russian territory.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office last month, said the United Kingdom would continue supporting Ukraine despite warnings from Russia that the reported use of British drones would carry consequences.
“We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself, and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict by previous prime ministers,” Burnham said. “It remains the case with me.”
The Sunday Times reported that drones manufactured by two British companies had been used by Ukraine in attacks against Russia.
Following that report, the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom issued a warning.
“London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences,” the embassy said.
The warnings come as the conflict increasingly extends beyond the immediate battlefield, with both Russia and Ukraine relying heavily on drones and missiles to strike targets far behind enemy lines.
Ukraine’s latest nearly 800-drone barrage and the deadly Russian strike in Pechenihy underscore how the war is intensifying in the air even as the ground front remains largely deadlocked.
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