Kyiv – Ukraine launched more than 600 drones at Moscow overnight, the Russian capital’s mayor said Tuesday, calling it one of the largest long-range Ukrainian assaults on the Moscow region since the war began more than four and a half years ago.
In an attack beginning Tuesday evening and continuing into Wednesday morning, 637 Ukrainian drones were launched at Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Russian officials said at least 180 were shot down in the Moscow region, while more than 150 were intercepted elsewhere across the country.
A high-rise building and a warehouse owned by Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, caught fire in the Moscow region. Ukraine has intensified attacks on Wildberries‘ warehouses and factories over the last month, knocking out seven of the company’s 10 largest logistics facilities, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.
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There were no confirmed fatalities from the Ukrainian strikes, but authorities said some people were wounded.
Russia, meanwhile, launched an attack overnight on the city of Pechenhy in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, killing 10 people, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We will definitely respond to this Russian strike,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “And it is equally important that our partners also complement our just kinetic responses with their own actions to put pressure on Russia and support Ukraine.”
Sofiia Gatilova/REUTERS
Russian officials also threatened consequences over the use of British drones in Ukraine’s deep strikes. Ukraine manufactures the vast majority of its own attack drones, but Russian officials said Tuesday that debris found in the country showed British-made drones had been shot down recently.
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“Reports that the Kiev regime is using British drones to carry out strikes deep inside Russian territory confirm that London is deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis, while hypocritically professing a desire for peace,” the Russian embassy in London said in a statement. “The deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kiev’s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay.”
In April, the U.K. announced its largest ever drone package for Ukraine, pledging to supply 120,000 drones this year. The package included long-range strike drones, intelligence and reconnaissance drones and logistics drones, according to the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense, which said the deliveries began in April.
“Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and we are committed to providing the equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself against Putin’s illegal invasion, a U.K. Ministry of Defense spokesperson told CBS News. “Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this Government to stand against Russian aggression, in Ukraine and against the UK and our allies.”
“This is the UK doing what it has long said it would do, which is to support Ukraine 100% against this illegal war led by Vladimir Putin,” British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Sky News on Tuesday. “We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself – and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict.”