Moscow claims more than 600 drones attacked city – photo, videos

Olha Hlushchenko - 18 August, 03:10

A fire. Photo: Exilenova+

More than 600 drones targeted the city of Moscow on the night of 17-18 August, with 180 reportedly "destroyed" over Moscow Oblast.

Source: Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin; a Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency TASS; Telegram channels; Moscow Oblast Governor Andrei Vorobyov; Wildberries press service

Details: After 02:30 Kyiv time, Sobyanin began reporting drones "flying towards Moscow" being shot down.

In less than an hour, Russian authorities reported 23 such drones.

Russian authorities and media outlets did not initially report any consequences of the attack.

Sobyanin's statements only said that "emergency services are working at the sites where debris fell".

Telegram channels posted photos and videos showing drones flying overhead and Russian air defence systems responding.

Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) announced restrictions on operations at Moscow's Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo airports.

Update: After 03:30, Sobyanin reported another 40 drones allegedly shot down while heading towards Moscow.

After 04:00, Sobyanin reported another 23 such drones.

TASS reported that "eight flights were unable to land in Moscow due to safety restrictions".

Sobyanin later said that more than 600 drones had attacked Moscow since the evening of 17 August.

Quote from Sobyanin: "Between yesterday evening and 05:00 today, 620 UAVs were flying towards Moscow Oblast, including 180 drones destroyed in Moscow Oblast. Emergency services are working at the sites where debris fell."

Details: Russian media outlets described the drone attack on Moscow as the "largest in two years".

At around 06:00, Sobyanin reported another seven drones allegedly shot down while "flying towards Moscow".

Update: In the morning, Vorobyov said that a UAV had struck a Wildberries warehouse near Atlant-Park in the Bogorodsky district of Moscow Oblast, causing a fire. Wildberries is Russia's largest online retailer.

Wildberries press service also confirmed that its logistics complex in Moscow Oblast had been damaged.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon to help us keep reporting!