Massive Ukrainian drone attack paralyzes Moscow airports and leaves four dead at a Volgograd refinery

Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on Moscow overnight, forcing flight restrictions at the Russian capital's main airports, according to Russian authorities. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said 467 drones were headed for the Moscow region overnight Thursday into Friday, and 144 were neutralized as they approached the capital.

The aviation agency Rosaviatsiya announced restrictions at Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, which operated only with special authorization. Russia's Defense Ministry said it had intercepted 1,198 drones across the country in twelve hours, a figure without independent confirmation.

In parallel, a Ukrainian strike on a refinery in the Volgograd region caused a fire and left at least four people dead and two injured, according to local governor Andrei Bocharov, cited by EFE. A fire was also reported at an industrial facility in Rostov-on-Don.

Russia responded overnight with an attack on Ukraine: according to the Ukrainian Air Force, it launched 117 air attacks, 80 drones were neutralized, but there were impacts in 24 locations. In Kyiv, according to European media, a strike hit a hospital and forced the evacuation of about 30 people.

The attack comes a day after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and with Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin, where a new round of talks with European participation was agreed. Read the note about that meeting.

Photo: Confidencial

Source: El Periódico / EFE and Confidencial