Russian officials on Aug. 21 said Moscow came under one of the largest drone strikes on the nation’s capital since the Russia–Ukraine war started in 2022.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin wrote on social media that 10 Ukrainian attack drones were destroyed by Russian air defenses. No damage or injuries were reported.
He noted that the “layered defense of Moscow that was created made it possible to successfully repel all the attacks from the enemy UAVs,” referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.
The ministry stated that, in all, 45 drones were destroyed over Russia in the alleged overnight attack. The majority were taken down in the border regions of Bryansk, Belgorod, Kaluga, and Kursk.
There was no independent information to verify those figures, and Ukraine has not publicly commented on Russia’s allegation. Some Russian social media channels shared videos of drones apparently being destroyed by air defense systems, which then set off car alarms.
Since the start of the war, Ukraine has periodically launched attack drones against Russia’s capital, which is located hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border. In May 2023, Russian officials alleged that Kyiv launched two drones in what they described as an assassination attempt targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin inside the Kremlin.
Analysis of Attack
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War stated on Aug. 20 that the Ukrainians have recently made additional advances in Kursk, including striking Russian pontoon bridges and engineering equipment. Geolocated footage, it stated, shows that Ukrainian troops entered an area outside of Korenevo, which has about 5,000 people, and entered two other villages.The Russian Defense Ministry stated that its forces had thwarted attack attempts by Ukrainian assault groups in the Kursk region, according to a report from state-run media. Ukraine’s armed forces saw more than 45 soldiers killed or wounded over the past 24 hours, while two were captured while attempting to attack the Kursk region, according to officials. There was no independent confirmation of those numbers.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Ukraine’s attack on Kursk has ended any possibility of peace negotiations.
“Who will negotiate with them after this, after the atrocities, the terror that they are committing against peaceful residents, the civilian population, civilian infrastructure and peaceful facilities,” she said at a briefing on Aug. 21 in Moscow.
The Russian Ministry of the Interior told state-run media on Aug. 20 that Ukraine’s military was using video surveillance cameras to obtain information in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions.
“[Ukrainian forces are] massively identifying IP ranges in our territories and connecting to unprotected video surveillance cameras remotely, viewing everything from private yards to roads and highways of strategic importance,” the ministry stated. “It is better not to use video surveillance cameras.”
The ministry noted that local residents are discouraged from using online dating services and apps because Ukraine is using such resources “for the covert collection of information.” It did not elaborate.
