MOSCOW: A total of 620 Ukrainian drones flew towards the Moscow region overnight, Russian officials said on Tuesday, reporting that several people were wounded and buildings were struck.
With frontline fighting at a near standstill and talks frozen, Ukraine and Russia have significantly stepped up long-distance attacks, pushing the civilian death toll to its highest levels since the war’s first months in 2022.
Russian air defences destroyed more than 180 of the drones over the capital region, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the state-backed MAX platform.
The drone swarm wounded three people, including a 10-year-old girl, Moscow region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram.
“Tonight and in the morning, air defence and electronic warfare forces were repelling a large-scale drone attack on Moscow region,” he said.
The “most serious consequences” were reported in the Pavlovsky Posad district, where a house burned down, Vorobyov said.
A drone also struck a warehouse east of Moscow belonging to e-commerce giant Wildberries.
“The company’s logistics complex in the Moscow region sustained minor damage as a result of the attack. Debris hit the wall of the building,” the company said in a statement.
Ukraine has struck multiple Wildberries warehouses in recent weeks, saying the company supplies components for Russian drones.
With frontline fighting largely stalled and diplomatic efforts showing little progress, Russia and Ukraine have increasingly relied on long-range drone and missile strikes against military, industrial, energy and transport infrastructure.
The conflict has increasingly involved sophisticated weapons and military assistance from abroad.
Western countries continue to provide Ukraine with advanced air-defence systems and long-range strike capabilities, while Ukrainian officials have warned of shortages of key interceptors, including US-made Patriot missiles.
Russia, meanwhile, has received military support from North Korea, including personnel and other forms of assistance, according to Western and Ukrainian officials.
The growing use of long-range weapons by both sides has expanded the geographic reach of the war, increasing risks to civilians while placing greater pressure on critical infrastructure far from the front lines.
