Ukraine unleashed more than 140 drones on Russia overnight, officials said Tuesday, killing a woman near Moscow, grounding flights and setting off air defences in several parts of the country.
Russia’s ministry of defence said in a statement it had shot down 144 Ukrainian drones overnight — “72 UAVs over Bryansk region, 20 over Moscow region, 14 over Kursk region, 13 over Tula region”, and 25 more over five other parts of the country.
Moscow regional governor Andrey Vorobyov said in a Telegram post that a 46-year-old woman had been killed and several people wounded in the strikes.
But an earlier statement in which he reported the death of a 9-year-old child was still “not confirmed”, he added.
As a result of the attack, four airports servicing Moscow — including major hubs Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo — had cancelled or delayed flights on Tuesday morning, according to state media.
In Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, “the enemy carried out a massive terrorist attack”, regional Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said on Telegram, adding “there were no casualties or damage, all attacks were repelled”.
Ukraine and Russia routinely carry out nighttime drone attacks on each other’s territory.
Advances in east
The latest wave of drones came as Moscow continued to claim incremental gains in Ukraine’s east more than 30 months into its offensive, and as Kyiv’s forces pressed their incursion into Russia’s region of Kursk.
Russia on Monday said its forces had captured another Ukrainian village, Memryk, seen as a stepping stone to the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk some 20 kilometres (12 miles) away.
Pokrovsk lies on the intersection of a key road that supplies Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern front and has long been a target for Moscow’s army.
Kyiv had launched its Kursk offensive on August 6 aiming to force Russia to redeploy troops pressing forward in the east, but Moscow has appeared to intensify its attacks there.
Moscow has also kept up its own aerial attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, including on key energy infrastructure ahead of winter.
Three Russian drones were shot down above Ukraine’s Sumy overnight, the regional military administration said early Tuesday, while air defences were also activated around Kyiv.
The military administration in the capital later said there were “no consequences after the Russian UAV attack”.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk condemned Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities on Monday.
Ukraine’s population was enduring “ongoing attacks by the Russian Federation striking civilian facilities like hospitals, schools and supermarkets, and repeated waves of targeting of energy infrastructure”, Turk told the UN Human Rights Council.
“I fear for Ukrainians this coming winter,” he said.
