MOSCOW, August 16 — Ukraine launched one of its largest drone offensives against Russia this year, deploying more than 800 drones in overnight attacks that killed at least six people, according to Russian authorities.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency described the assault as the largest Ukrainian drone attack of the year. Moscow region was among the main targets, with Governor Andrei Vorobyov saying Russian air-defense and electronic-warfare units intercepted or neutralized 187 drones.An 83-year-old man was killed in the Moscow region, authorities said.
Videos circulating on social media showed a major fire at a vast Wildberries warehouse in the Moscow region. Ukraine’s military claimed it struck the approximately 250,000-square-metre facility, alleging that the logistics centre supports supplies to the Russian military. Kyiv has also claimed responsibility for attacks on several of Wildberries’ major logistics facilities in recent months.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukrainian drones were intercepted over 17 regions, particularly in southern and western Russia. Five people were reported killed in the Rostov region, where Ukrainian forces claimed to have struck a defence-industrial facility producing solid rocket propellant used in Russian weapons.
Meanwhile, Russia continued retaliatory missile and drone strikes across Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said six people were injured in attacks early Sunday, including an incident affecting a book market in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy also said Russian ballistic missiles struck the central Ukrainian cities of Kremenchuk and Kryvyi Rih. Two people were reportedly killed in Kryvyi Rih and another in Sumy. ArcelorMittal said one worker was killed and 13 others injured after a strike hit its steel plant in Kryvyi Rih.
The latest escalation comes as both sides continue to intensify long-range attacks far beyond the immediate front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war.
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