Russia said on Sunday, May 17th that it had intercepted almost 600 Ukrainian drones overnight in one of the largest cross-border aerial assaults since the beginning of the war. According to Russian authorities, the attacks killed four people, including three in the Moscow region and one in the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border.
Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems shot down 556 UAVs overnight, with another 30 intercepted after dawn across 14 Russian regions, occupied Crimea, and the Black and Azov seas. Officials described the Moscow region as one of the worst-hit areas, with local authorities reporting damage to infrastructure, residential buildings, and public facilities.
The Moscow region governor said a woman was killed after a drone struck a private house, while two men also died in the attacks. Several others were wounded. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported more than 80 UAVs had been intercepted around the capital overnight, adding that debris damaged apartment blocks and injured construction workers near an oil refinery. He added that production at the site had not been disrupted.
In Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, authorities said the fourth victim was killed in a drone strike targeting a lorry in the Shebekino district. The region has repeatedly come under shelling and aerial attacks during the war because of its proximity to the border.
The latest strikes came days after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed further retaliatory attacks following a deadly Russian strike on Kyiv that killed 24 people earlier this week. Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict remain stalled, with Kyiv rejecting Moscow’s demands over territory in eastern Ukraine. Although the United States has repeatedly pushed both sides toward negotiations, momentum has faded in recent months as fighting intensified again following the end of a short-lived truce earlier this month.
