Ukraine Resumes Massive Drone Attacks on Moscow After CIA Director’s Visit
Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow resumed overnight into Wednesday, just hours after the departure of CIA Director John Ratcliffe following an unannounced visit, according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and local reports. The renewed aerial assault involved unmanned craft targeting critical regional infrastructure across multiple Russian territories.
Overnight Drone Strikes Target Capital Region and Infrastructure
At least 10 incoming drones were intercepted while flying toward Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed via Telegram during the early hours of Wednesday morning. Emergency services were immediately dispatched to handle debris fields across various crash sites. The renewed wave follows a temporary operational pause, which a Ukrainian official disclosed to ABC News had been granted in response to a direct United States request during Ratcliffe’s visit in the capital.
The scale of the overnight offensive extended far beyond the immediate city limits. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 426 Ukrainian craft were intercepted overnight across 15 separate Russian regions and occupied Crimea. State aviation authorities enacted temporary flight restrictions at three of Moscow’s major international hubs—Domodedovo, Zhukovsky, and Vnukovo—alongside regional airports spanning Kaluga, Tambov, Penza, Saratov, Saransk, Cheboksary, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, and Yaroslavl.
Industrial Facilities and Regional Logistics Under Fire
Infrastructure damage was reported across multiple economic hubs. In the Tambov region, a major Wildberries e-commerce logistics facility in the city of Kotovsk suffered a direct hit. Local Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov reported that the subsequent fire consumed an area exceeding 100,000 square meters. Wildberries confirmed the strike and announced the immediate suspension of all new shipments to the affected distribution center.
Meanwhile, regional media and local officials in the Nizhny Novgorod region reported a strike on a major oil refinery located in Kstovo. Governor Gleb Nikitin stated that local air defenses repelled an attack consisting of more than 40 drones in the area, though falling debris damaged an industrial facility, multiple residential buildings, and several civilian vehicles. The Ukrainian defense company Fire Point stated via Telegram that its munitions were utilized in both the Tambov logistics facility strike and the Nizhny Novgorod refinery attack.
Cross-Border Casualties and Wider Regional Impact
The intense exchange of long-range strikes caused casualties on both sides of the border. In the Lipetsk region, a drone crash into a residential home resulted in two fatalities, while injuries were documented across Lipetsk, Belgorod, Voronezh, and Tula, according to local authorities. In Crimea, Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev confirmed that air defenses intercepted three incoming Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles over the Black Sea.
Concurrently, Ukraine faced retaliatory strikes from Russian forces. The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia launched 162 drones overnight, of which 134 were intercepted or otherwise suppressed, with confirmed impacts registered in 18 distinct locations. The Ukraine State Emergency Service reported that a Russian attack in the northern Chernihiv region killed a woman and a 4-year-old girl, while injuring a 14-year-old girl. Additional fires and strikes were documented in the Sumy and Kherson regions.