Dozens of Ukrainian drones have targeted multiple regions in Russia – including Moscow – overnight on Friday, shutting down airports and disrupting flights from major Russian cities.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses downed 73 Ukrainian drones overnight across several regions, including three heading toward Moscow in a Telegram update.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
“During the past night, from 23:00 Moscow time on July 17 to 7:00 Moscow time on July 18, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 73 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles,” the statement claims.
Russia’s independent news outlet Astra shared footage, reportedly filmed by locals, showing a Ukrainian drone flying low through the blue twilight over the Dmitrovsky District of the Moscow region.
The district is located some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Moscow.
Astra shared the footage at around 4 a.m. local time, which it said was published soon after the drones were spotted.
Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said 11 drones were shot down over the Moscow region – one extra compared to the report by the Ministry of Defense – with light damage to private homes in Domodedovo, Krasnogorsk, Solnechnogorsk, Sergiev Posad and Mozhaisk. No injuries were reported.
Flights were also grounded around the same time as the reported attacks.
Other Topics of Interest
Interview: How Latin America Must Prepare for Threat of Russian Disinformation Campaigns
Kyiv Post spoke to Matteo Pugliese, PhD, an Italian expert on Russian disinformation campaigns working to combat Russian information operations in Latin America and around the globe.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), at around 1:11 a.m., announced “temporary restrictions” for Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport that were lifted at 4:28 a.m. It said 20 flights headed for Vnukovo were diverted to other airports.
Nine minutes later, Rosaviatsia announced restrictions for the Nizhny Novgorod airport, which lasted for approximately an hour.
Ukraine had not commented on the attack at the time of publication.
The same night, Russian forces launched deadly overnight attacks across multiple regions of Ukraine, killing at least three civilians and injuring several others.
The strikes came amid intensified aerial assaults following US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum giving Moscow 50 days to end the war or face steep tariffs.