Ukraine Attacks Russia With More Than 800 Drones

Darwin, August 17 : Ukraine launched a major overnight drone attack on Russia, involving more than 800 drones, in one of the largest aerial assaults on Russian territory this year. Russian authorities said at least six people were killed in the attacks.

According to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency, the assault was the largest Ukrainian drone attack of the year. The Moscow region, home to many of Russia’s wealthy and influential figures, was among the main targets.

Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said air defense and electronic warfare units intercepted or disabled 187 drones over the region. An 83-year-old man was killed in a drone strike in the Moscow region.

Videos circulating on social media following the attack showed a massive fire at a Wildberries warehouse in the Moscow region. The company is often described as Russia’s equivalent of Amazon. Ukraine’s military claimed that its drones struck the approximately 250,000-square-meter facility, alleging that the warehouse is involved in supplying logistics to the Russian military.

Ukraine has also claimed responsibility for attacks on seven of Wildberries’ 10 largest logistics centers in recent months.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukrainian drones were intercepted primarily over 17 regions in southern and western Russia. In the southern Rostov region, five people were killed, according to the regional governor.

The Ukrainian military said it also struck a defense-industrial facility in Rostov, which produces solid rocket propellant used in Russian weapons.

Meanwhile, Russia continued its retaliatory missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv and several other cities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said six people were injured in Russian attacks early Sunday. Among the sites hit was a book market in Kyiv.

Zelenskyy also said Russia carried out ballistic missile strikes on the central Ukrainian cities of Kremenchuk and Kryvyi Rih. Two people were killed in Kryvyi Rih and another was killed in the northern city of Sumy.

ArcelorMittal, which operates a steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, said an attack on the facility killed one worker and injured 13 others.

Source: CNN