Last night Ukrainian forces launched a massive drone attack against Russia. Russian forces intercepted 45 drones, with at least 11 of those shot down over the Moscow region. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said the attack is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow, stating on Telegram:
Two more drones flying to Moscow have been shot down. The layered defense of Moscow against enemy UAVs that was created has allowed us to successfully repel all attacks. The Defense Ministry’s air defense forces shot down 10 of them tonight. This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow with drones ever. We continue to monitor the situation.
In response to the rapid escalation of the war, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine’s actions will result in many more deaths, stating on X:
Terror in the Kursk region: West have made things much worse for Ukraine, which is still under their charge, and now there will be much more pointless spending and a radically higher number of caskets. NO NEGOTIATIONS UNTIL THE ENEMY IS COMPLETELY DESTROYED!
A Ukrainian A-22 Flying Fox drone was shot down in Northern Russia near the village of Vysoky in the Murmansk Oblast. Russian news website Pravada.ru reports the drone was likely targeting the Russian Air Force air base in Olenya.
Governor of Murmansk Oblast, Andrey Chibis, responded to the the attack, stating on Telegram:
An aerial threat of drone use has been detected in the Murmansk region. All necessary measures to improve security have been taken. I ask northerners to be vigilant and report suspicious situations to 112.
In response to the drone attack, the Murmansk and Apatity airports were closed for around three hours, TASS reported:
From 03:46 p.m. Moscow time [00:46 p.m. GMT], Murmansk and Apatity airports halted receipt and departures of aircraft due to presence of constraints of using aerospace, limited by a circle with the 100 km radius.
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency later announced the restrictions were lifted, stating:
Restrictions on operations of Murmansk and Khibiny Airports were lifted at 06:40 p.m. Moscow time [03:40 p.m. GMT]
