MOSCOW: Russian air defences intercepted nearly 60 Ukrainian drones approaching Moscow overnight, prompting the temporary suspension of flights at four airports serving the capital before operations were restored, Russian authorities said on Monday.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services had been dispatched to sites where debris from downed drones had fallen, but provided no immediate information on casualties or damage.
Russia’s aviation watchdog briefly halted arrivals and departures at Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports as a precautionary measure. Flight operations later resumed after the airspace restrictions were lifted.
According to Russian media reports citing the Defence Ministry, air defence systems destroyed a total of 301 drones across Russia and Russian-controlled territories during the night, marking one of the latest large-scale aerial attacks since the start of the war in 2022.
🇷🇺🇺🇦 WATCH: Explosions light up Moscow skies as Russian air defenses SHOT DOWN a Ukrainian drone mid air.
📸: Exilenova Plus pic.twitter.com/q7WtwFHlih
— Defence Index (@Defence_Index) June 22, 2026
The drone barrage came days after Ukraine reportedly struck Moscow’s only oil refinery, an attack in which Russian forces said they had intercepted nearly 200 drones in one of the biggest assaults on the Russian capital since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, fighting continued inside Ukraine, where local authorities reported civilian casualties from fresh Russian attacks.
In the southern Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper said a Russian Iskander ballistic missile struck an agricultural facility late on Sunday, killing one person and injuring three others. Vehicles and fuel storage tanks caught fire following the attack.
In the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a woman was killed and three people were wounded in a separate drone strike, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.
Ukraine’s navy also said a Russian drone attack struck the Victress, a Turkish dry cargo vessel sailing under the Panamanian flag.
The vessel’s nine-member international crew was rescued, although casualties were reported. According to Reuters, the claim could not be independently verified.
In Russian-annexed Crimea, authorities in Sevastopol cancelled all open-air public events and announced that street lights would remain switched off as a security precaution. Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev also urged residents to reduce electricity consumption.
The peninsula, a popular destination for Russian tourists, has also imposed restrictions on fuel sales, limiting supplies to state agencies responsible for essential services and security. The measures come amid increasing pressure on supply routes and energy infrastructure caused by repeated Ukrainian drone attacks.
The latest exchange of strikes highlights the growing reach of the conflict, with both Russia and Ukraine continuing to target infrastructure and logistical assets far from the front lines, despite the absence of any breakthrough in efforts to end the war.
