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Ukraine launched more than 400 drones towards Moscow and the surrounding region overnight, Russian authorities said, in what Russian military commentators described as one of the largest attacks on the capital since the start of the war.
Russia’s defence ministry said 381 drones had been intercepted across the country and over the Black and Azov seas.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 85 drones had been destroyed while approaching the capital. The claims could not be independently verified.
Ten people were injured in the Moscow region, including three Chinese nationals, according to Russian officials.
Seven of the casualties were reported in Domodedovo, near one of Moscow’s main airports, where a residential building and an industrial complex were damaged.
Fires reportedly broke out at an oil depot in Podolsk and at industrial and logistics facilities in Domodedovo. Images shared by residents appeared to show smoke rising from several locations.
The Wildberries distribution centre in Koledino, south of Moscow, was also reportedly targeted. The facility, operated by Russia’s largest online retailer, was evacuated during the attack.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had targeted logistics facilities and an oil depot more than 400 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. He also said two vessels linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet and four cargo ships had been struck in the Black Sea.
Zelensky said the attacks had been carried out in response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and communities and argued that greater pressure on Russia was needed to bring the war to an end.
The attack followed Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries warehouses in Elektrostal, near Moscow, and Kotovsk in Russia’s Tambov region on 17 and 18 July. Russian officials said seven workers had been killed and dozens injured at the Kotovsk facility, while 24 people were injured in Elektrostal.
Zelensky said the warehouses had been used to supply sanctioned components for Russian drone production and navigation equipment. Wildberries has denied that its civilian facilities form part of Russia’s military infrastructure.
Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to strike Russian oil depots, refineries and logistics centres. Kyiv has described the operations as “long-range sanctions” intended to disrupt fuel supplies and military production.
Russian regional authorities separately said a Ukrainian drone strike in the Belgorod region had killed one person and injured four others.
The Ukrainian attack came after Russia carried out one of the largest ballistic missile barrages of the war against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Sunday.
Ukrainian officials said Russia had launched more than 40 ballistic missiles and about 120 attack drones. One person was reported killed in Kyiv and the surrounding region, while at least 17 people were injured in the capital. Damage was reported in several districts, including residential, industrial and infrastructure sites.
In Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian emergency services said three people, including an 11-year-old girl, had been killed when guided aerial bombs struck a residential building. The number of injured later rose to more than 40, including eight children.
Ukrainian authorities said Russian attacks in the Sumy and Donetsk regions on 19 July had killed five civilians and injured 20 others. One death was reported in Sumy and four in the Donetsk region.
A Russian missile strike on the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Golden Leo near Odesa also killed ten people, Ukrainian authorities said. The vessel was carrying corn and was reportedly struck by three cruise missiles after leaving port.
Those killed included Syrian and Indian crew members, as well as a Ukrainian maritime pilot. Eight crew members were rescued following an overnight search operation.
A separate Russian strike on an infrastructure facility in Odesa on Monday killed three people and injured three others, local officials said. The regional governor said Russian attacks had killed 28 people in the Odesa region during July.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 94 drones and two guided air-launched missiles in its latest overnight attack. It said 81 drones had been destroyed or suppressed over northern, southern and eastern Ukraine.
