Moscow, May 17 (EFE).- At least three people were killed and 15 injured after what Russian authorities described as the largest Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region so far this year.
“In the Starbéevo district of Khimki,” a satellite city near Moscow, “a woman died after a drone struck a house. Another man is trapped under the rubble,” Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said on the Telegram-like platform MAX.
Vorobyov added that “two men died in the town of Pogorelki,” in the Mitishchi district, after drone debris fell on a house under construction.
He also reported that drones damaged apartment buildings and private homes in the cities of Krasnogorsk and Istra, west of Moscow, injuring three men and one woman.
Another house caught fire after a drone fell in the town of Subbotino, in the Naro-Fominsk district southwest of the Russian capital.
According to Vorobyov, the drones targeted critical infrastructure in several municipalities surrounding Moscow.
Meanwhile, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 people were injured, most of them workers at the Moscow oil refinery.
“After the drone strike, 12 people were injured, according to preliminary data. Most of them were construction workers near the refinery entrance. The plant’s technological process was not interrupted,” Sobyanin wrote on MAX.
Three residential buildings were also reportedly damaged.
Throughout the night, Sobyanin announced successive drone interceptions, which eventually totaled 81. That raised the number of drones reportedly shot down over the past 24 hours to more than 120, making it the largest attack on Moscow this year.
The previous major attack occurred on March 14, when Russian defenses reportedly intercepted 65 drones near Moscow, followed by attacks involving 54 drones on March 15 and 42 on the following day. On May 7, Russian authorities said 61 drones had been shot down near the capital.
EFE journalists reported seeing at least two long-range Ukrainian Liutyi drones, recognizable by their distinctive inverted V-shaped rear wings, between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time, while more than 20 loud explosions were heard near Moscow’s Domodedovo airport.
Russian aviation authorities temporarily suspended operations at Moscow’s four international airports. Sheremetyevo Airport said debris from a downed drone had landed nearby.
“The debris is located at a safe distance from the passenger and aircraft service area. Emergency services are already at the scene and all necessary safety measures are being implemented,” the airport said on Telegram.
In the city of Sevastopol, headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the annexed Crimean Peninsula, air defense systems reportedly intercepted 25 aerial targets, according to local governor Mikhail Razvozhaev.
Razvozhaev said drone debris damaged a high-voltage power line, causing electricity disruptions.
According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, air defenses “intercepted and destroyed” 556 fixed-wing drones between 10 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday across 14 Russian regions, the Crimean Peninsula, and the Black and Azov seas. EFE
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