Ukraine Intensifies Drone Attacks on Moscow, Hits Satellite Communications Center

More than 60 drones targeted Moscow overnight, according to the city’s mayor. This marks another significant aerial attack on the Russian capital as Ukraine steps up its long-range weapons campaign. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on X that a satellite communications center was struck. The center was utilized for reconnaissance and coordinating Russian forces in Ukraine.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin called it a “large-scale attack” in a Telegram post, stating air defenses destroyed 61 drones approaching the city. However, he did not specify the origin of the drones. Emergency services were active at crash sites, but no casualties were reported.

The attack on Moscow was part of a wider wave of drone strikes across Russia overnight. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defenses shot down 419 Ukrainian drones in 18 regions, including the Crimean Peninsula.

Andrey Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, reported on Telegram that a 6-month-old infant died and three people were injured when a private house caught fire after a drone crash in Yegoryevsk. The town is located approximately 100 miles southeast of Moscow. An administrative building in Dubna, about 69 miles north of the capital, was also damaged by falling debris.

Footage on social media shows bystanders at the scene of the drone attack in Yegoryevsk. The strikes briefly affected operations at Moscow’s Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, according to Russia’s federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya.

Zelenskyy mentioned that the Dubna satellite communications center in the Moscow region was hit. The facility, situated around 310 miles from the Ukrainian border, was important for reconnaissance and coordinating Russian military activities. Additional strikes are planned against similar enemy facilities.

This latest Ukrainian attack occurred just two weeks after the country targeted a major oil refinery in the Moscow region. It seemed to be the largest aerial assault on the city since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Kyiv labeled these strikes as retaliation for Russian attacks on a historic monastery complex in the Ukrainian capital earlier in the month.

Smoke and fire rose from the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery following a Russian missile strike earlier this month.

Image: Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images

Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s envoy addressing the “crimes of the Kyiv regime,” said on Telegram that civilian casualties from Ukrainian attacks had surpassed 300 in one week for the first time this year, referring to those killed and injured.

Ukraine’s campaign, focusing on sites deep inside Russia, showcases its expanded long-range capabilities. It aims to project strength beyond the battlefield and put pressure on Moscow to end its war. The focus has been on Russia’s oil and energy infrastructure, disrupting its war operations and causing fuel supply strains.

President Vladimir Putin publicly acknowledged Russia’s fuel shortages for the first time. In a state television interview, Putin mentioned a Ukrainian proposal for a mutual halt to long-range strikes as a peace gesture. Russia, however, rejected this offer, continuing its battlefield advance.