Three people were killed overnight in a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region, Russian officials have said, marking yet another escalation in the ongoing game of "you hit my city, I hit yours." A woman died in a house in Khimki, north of the capital, where a person was trapped under rubble, regional governor Andrei Vorobiev said. A man and a woman were killed in the village of Pogorelki, bringing the total to three - a number that, while tragic, is notably smaller than the 24 killed in Kyiv earlier this week by a massive Russian drone and missile attack.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 people were injured in strikes on a city oil refinery, which presumably was not having a great day anyway. Russia's military claimed 556 drones were intercepted, which either means Ukrainian drone production is booming or Russian air defense is getting a lot of practice. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strikes an "entirely justified" response to deadly Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, adding a touch of moral clarity to the chaos. In Ukraine, eight people were injured in overnight Russian drone attacks and shelling in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, officials said, ensuring no one forgets this is very much a two-way street.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory - a fact that seems to be motivating Ukraine's increasingly bold long-range strikes. In a post on Telegram early on Sunday, Vorobiev wrote that "since three o'clock in the morning, air defence forces have been repelling a large-scale UAV [drone] attack on the capital region." He said four people - three men and a woman - were injured in the region, and a number of houses damaged. A private house was on fire in the village of Subbotino, south-west of Moscow, the governor added, because nothing says "good morning" like a burning house.
Moscow Mayor Sobyanin said 12 people were injured when drones hit an entrance to the city's oil refinery - an entrance that probably wasn't designed for such dramatic arrivals. Three nearby houses were damaged. Meanwhile, Sheremetyevo, Russia's busiest airport serving Moscow, reported drone wreckage on its territory but said no one was injured. "The situation in the passenger terminals is calm. Sheremetyevo Airport is providing stable passenger and aircraft services," airport authorities said, in what may be the most understated statement of the conflict.
Later on Sunday, Zelensky said that Ukraine's "long-range sanctions have reached the Moscow region," referring to the latest drone attack. "We are clearly telling the Russians: their state must end its war," he wrote in a post on Telegram, delivering a message that was both pointed and airborne. In a statement, Ukraine's state security service SBU said that - together with Ukraine's military - it had struck several oil facilities and a semiconductor-making plant in the Moscow region, targeting both the fuel and the brains of Russia's war machine. It added that a number of air defence systems were hit at the Belbek military airfield in Crimea - Ukraine's southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, which remains a sore spot for both sides.
Zelensky had earlier pledged to retaliate for recent Russian attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions. He said on Saturday that this week Ukraine had already destroyed high-value Russian military equipment, including aircraft, a helicopter, and a cargo ship. Russian oil facilities had also been attacked, he added, because nothing says "we're serious" like a disrupted supply chain. In recent months, Ukraine's military has intensified its strikes on key energy facilities across Russia. Kyiv says they are legitimate targets as they allow Russia to continue its war effort - a logic that is both brutal and undeniable.
Also overnight, Russia carried out more than 30 drone and shelling attacks on four districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region, top local official Oleksandr Hanzha said. He said eight people were injured, and a number of houses were damaged or destroyed. Three people were injured in the regional capital of Dnipro, and a number of fires were reported in the city. On Saturday evening, a woman was injured in a Russian drone attack in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, local officials said. In its latest update, Ukraine's air force said that Russia had launched 287 drones since late Saturday. It said that 279 drones were shot down or intercepted, but there were eight direct hits in seven locations, proving that even in war, math is unforgiving.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory - a statistic that remains unchanged, but the cost of holding it keeps climbing.