600 drones, the city of Moscow affected… What we know about the massive Ukrainian attack which left at least four dead in Russia

Russia indicated this Sunday, May 17, that it had been targeted by around 600 drones, causing several deaths. It would be one of the most massive Ukrainian attacks in four years of conflict.

Russia indicated this Sunday, May 17, that it had been the target of some of the most massive Ukrainian attacks since the start of the conflict. This offensive would mobilize around 600 drones and left three dead on the outskirts of Moscow and one dead in the Belgorod region.

• 556 Ukrainian drones shot down

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down about 600 Ukrainian drones between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. local time (9 p.m. of Paris).

These interceptions, at a level much higher than the few dozen most often observed, took place over 14 Russian regions as well as annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, said the same source on Russian messaging Max.

• Moscou et sa région ciblées

The Russian capital was not spared by Ukrainian drones. In Moscow itself, more than 80 aircraft were intercepted and one strike hit a construction site near a refinery, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

“An Indian worker lost his life and three others were injured,” the Indian embassy in Russia said in a statement.

“The refinery’s production was not disrupted. Three residential buildings were damaged,” he said. For its part, kyiv claims to be targeting military but also energy sites in order to reduce the possibility for Moscow to finance its military operations.

According to the governor of the region surrounding Moscow, Andrei Vorobiov, a woman died in the town of Khimki, northwest of Moscow, and two men were killed in a village in the commune of Mytichchi (north-east) during the Ukrainian attack.

After 4 years of war, what is the situation on the front in Ukraine?

In the rest of the region, several homes were damaged and “infrastructure” was attacked, leaving four people injured, according to the governor.

If the capital region is regularly the subject of drone attacks, Moscow itself, located more than 400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, is more rarely targeted.

In the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, a man was killed overnight in the Chebekino district, during a Ukrainian drone attack on a truck, according to regional authorities.

• A Ukrainian response

This massive Ukrainian attack comes three days after deadly strikes on the capital kyiv. Ukraine then quickly announced a response. At least 24 people, including three minors aged 12, 15 and 17, were killed in long-range drone and missile attacks on kyiv during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, according to a Ukrainian report on Friday. Around fifty others were injured.

“We are fully justified in responding by targeting the Russian oil industry, its military production and those who are directly responsible for war crimes committed against Ukraine and Ukrainians,” President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Friday.

This Sunday, the Ukrainian president deemed the attack “entirely justified”. “Our responses to Russia’s prolongation of the war and its attacks on our cities and communities are entirely justified,” he wrote on social networks, a few hours after Russia claimed to have intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones.

Despite this massive offensive, the Ukrainian Air Force claimed this Sunday to have intercepted 279 Russian attack drones and decoys out of a total of 287 launched during the night.