Ukraine Sends One Of Largest Ever Drone Attacks On Russian Capital

Russia on Wednesday says its anti-air defenses have successfully thwarted a major Ukrainian drone attack against the capital of Moscow, having shot down eleven inbound drones in total.

“The echeloned defense of Moscow against enemy UAVs made it possible to repel all attacks. This was one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow with the help of drones of all time,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a Telegram post early Wednesday morning.

Russia’s defense ministry said the effort to target the capital was part of a broader cross-border attack which included 45 drones total sent by Ukraine across different regions overnight, including:

• 11 shot down over the Moscow region

• 23 intercepted over the Bryansk region

• 6 over Belgorod,

• 3 over the Kaluga region 

• 2 over Kursk

Reuters noted that some of the drones were downed over the city of Podolsk, which lies some 24 miles south of the Kremlin. There have been no initial reports of injuries or damage due to the drone attack on the capital. Separately the governor of Bryansk, Alexander Bogomaz, cited a “mass” attack on his region which included all 23 drones intercepted.

Kremlin officials likely see this brazen attack on the capital as but a new extension of the Kursk incursion. While it’s certainly not the first drone attack on Moscow since the war began, it could mark the start of more consistent efforts to reach Moscow with UAVs. 

President Zelensky has meanwhile been busy demanding that the West lift all restrictions for using long-range missiles inside Russian territory.

Ukraine has assaulted the Russian capital on a few prior notable occasions. First, on May 3, 2023 a pair of explosive-laden drones targeted the Kremlin complex in what Russia called an “act of terrorism” and an assassination attempt. The drones were intercepted, but just barely, as one appeared to explode at the top of the Kremlin Senate dome. President Putin had not been present there at the time.

Another drone attack occurred in July 2023, when drones struck two buildings very near the Ministry of Defense headquarters. Another in November included a wave of 20 Ukrainian drone attacks on separate locations of Russia, some which tried to reach Moscow.

Ukraine, for its part, said it was also subject of a large-scale overnight drone attack which included 72 projectiles launched by Russia, most which were reportedly intercepted.

Ukraine’s military said 69 Iranian-design one-way drones targeted locations in Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson and Donetsk. Of these it said 51 drones were shot down; however, at least two Russian ballistic missiles made impact.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reports that all ten Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow were intercepted, marking the most massive drone attack in the city’s history. He says all of the drones were shot down while approaching the capital, neutralized by the city’s layered defense… pic.twitter.com/SSahnjWQxy

— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) August 21, 2024

Meanwhile, former president Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, has reiterated that the ongoing Kursk incursion means peace talks are impossible until Ukraine is completely defeated. “The empty chatter of intermediaries that no one had appointed about the wonderful peace is over. Everyone understands everything now, even though they do not say it out loud,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram.

He concluded his message in caps with: “There will be NO MORE NEGOTIATIONS UNTIL THE COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY!”