On Tuesday, September 10th, Ukraine launched its largest drone attack to date. Russian air defense forces shot down at least 144 drones in nine different regions within Russian territory.
Russian officials stated that at least 20 drones were brought down in the skies over Moscow, resulting in the cancellation of over 30 flights in the capital and the temporary halting of operations in several major airports. Another 124 drones were destroyed in the air over eight other regions.
According to Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), following the attack, three out of four airports in Moscow have closed their air traffic. A major road leading to the capital has been partially blocked off.
Moscow Oblast Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported on Telegram that the drone attack the previous night caused damage to two high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district of Moscow Oblast, leading to fires in several apartments.
Vorobyov mentioned that in Ramenskoye, a 46-year-old woman died and three others were injured. He added that 43 people were evacuated to temporary shelters. Official data shows that Ramenskoye is located about 50 kilometers southeast of the Kremlin with a population of approximately 250,000.
The Russian Ministry of Defense disclosed that over 70 drones were brought down in the airspace of Bryansk region in southwestern Russia, which borders on Ukraine and Lipetsk region in southern Russia.
The drone industry in Ukraine has been rapidly expanding. Prior to this attack, Ukraine had launched a significant number of drones in early September, targeting primarily Russian energy, military, and transportation infrastructure.
As Russia advances in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has been attempting to redirect the conflict into Russian territory. On August 6th, Kyiv launched a daring attack in the Kursk region of western Russia, increasingly relying on drones to carry out attacks deep within Russian territory.
On the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, the Russian military claims to have occupied the village of Memyryk east of Poltava city. While intensifying their offensive, Russia has been striving to push back Ukrainian forces that breached their western defenses in an assault in August.
Ukraine has been pressing the United States to allow them to use more powerful Western weapons within Russian territory to weaken Moscow’s ability to continue attacking Ukraine.
Ukraine asserts its right to carry out strikes deep into Russian territory. However, Western supporters in Kyiv have repeatedly expressed their reluctance to escalate the conflict into a direct confrontation between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance.
(This article referenced relevant reports from Reuters)