Ukraine Hits Deep Inside Russia, Moscow Airports Disrupted

A wave of Ukrainian drone strikes overnight and into Friday morning left at least two people dead and targeted multiple regions inside Russia.

According to Russian officials, the regions targeted include an attempted assault on Moscow.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that between 11 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday, its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 155 Ukrainian drones, including 11 directed at the capital.

The announcement was made via the ministry’s official Telegram channel.

The attempted strike caused significant disruptions to air traffic in Moscow.

Three of the four major airports serving the city, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky, temporarily suspended operations as a precaution, Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said.

Flight activities later resumed after the situation was deemed safe.

In the Lipetsk region of southwestern Russia, one drone crashed on the premises of an agricultural facility, igniting a brief fire.

Regional Governor Igor Artamonov stated that one person was killed and another injured in the incident.

The Russian military said four drones were shot down in the Lipetsk area, though it did not confirm if one of them was responsible for the crash at the agricultural site.

The Russian Defense Ministry does not disclose the total number of drones launched by Ukraine, focusing instead on the number successfully intercepted or destroyed.

Officials noted that the majority of the drones were intercepted over Russian regions bordering Ukraine namely, Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk—where drone activity has intensified in recent months.

Elsewhere, in the Tula region approximately 200 kilometers south of Moscow, another drone attack resulted in one fatality and one injury.

The information was confirmed by the regional governor, Dmitry Milyaev, via a Telegram post.

Authorities have not released the identities of the victims.

Meanwhile, in the southwestern port city of Taganrog, drone debris reportedly landed on the premises of the Beriev aircraft manufacturing facility.

The city’s mayor, Svetlana Kambulova, acknowledged the incident but reported no injuries.

She did not comment on whether the facility sustained any significant damage.

As of now, Ukraine has not officially commented on the reported attacks.

Reuters noted it could not independently verify the accounts provided by Russian officials.

Kyiv has repeatedly stated that its cross-border drone operations aim to disrupt infrastructure vital to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials argue that such strikes are justified responses to Moscow’s relentless assaults on Ukrainian cities and energy systems.

In recent weeks, Russia has ramped up its own drone and missile barrages across Ukraine, launching some of the largest-scale aerial assaults since the war began in February 2022.

According to Ukrainian authorities, these attacks have resulted in widespread destruction and heavy civilian casualties across multiple regions, including the capital, Kyiv.

Both nations have consistently denied intentionally targeting civilian populations.

Although international observers and rights groups have documented widespread damage to civilian infrastructure and high non-combatant casualties, most of them in Ukraine.

The war, now in its third year, has already claimed tens of thousands of lives, with the humanitarian toll continuing to mount.

The use of drones has become a central feature in the evolving conflict, allowing both sides to reach beyond front lines and hit targets deep inside each other’s territories.

Analysts say these technologies have changed the nature of modern warfare, making traditional defense strategies increasingly difficult.

As Friday’s developments underscore, neither side appears to be scaling back.

While Ukraine pushes its drone campaign deeper into Russian territory, Russia continues to escalate its aerial offensives on Ukrainian cities.

The result is a prolonged and increasingly complex conflict with little sign of resolution on the horizon.

International response to these latest attacks has been muted so far, though growing concern remains over the widening geographic scope of the conflict and its impact on regional security.

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