A massive Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region overnight killed two people and ignited a fire at a major fuel depot overnight, authorities said, and media reported Tuesday.
A 20-year-old man was killed in the village of Radumlya north of Moscow, while rescuers recovered the body of a 71-year-old man from under the rubble of a destroyed home in Barybino to the south.
Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed the fatalities and said that nine people were injured in the attack. Forty-seven private homes and four apartment buildings were damaged across seven municipalities, Vorobyov said, ordering local authorities to speed up reconstruction efforts.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said “a majority” of the 650 drones launched toward the Russian capital had been intercepted, 105 of them on their immediate approach to Moscow. He reported dozens more interceptions in rapid succession on Tuesday morning.
The exiled outlet Astra reported that video of one of the attacks showed a fire at the Moscow region’s largest fuel storage hub: the Volodarskaya line production and dispatch station. The Moscow Times could not independently verify the report.
The Transneft-owned facility handles up to 3 million metric tons of petroleum products per year and directly supplies fuel to Moscow’s main airports: Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo. According to Astra, the Volodarskaya station has not been a previous target of Ukrainian attacks.
Severe delays and flight cancellations were reported at Sheremetyevo International Airport during the overnight air raid alerts.
The attack follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s weekend pledge to target Russian energy infrastructure in response to Moscow’s intensified air campaign against Ukrainian cities.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted 868 Ukrainian drones over dozens of Russian regions overnight.
It said its forces conducted retaliatory strikes against cargo ships and port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports of Chornomorsk and Izmail, as well as digital data centers across several major Ukrainian cities.
On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said it would intensify strikes on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine in response to Zelensky’s pledge.
Reuters contributed reporting.
