Two people have been killed and seven injured in a major Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and surrounding areas, Russian officials have said.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 650 drones had been heading towards the capital during the overnight assault, with most intercepted. Russia’s account of the scale of the attack varied, with officials also saying 290 drones targeted Moscow and nearby regions.
A warehouse in Moscow was set on fire, while regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said one person was killed in Radumlya and another in Barbybino.
Vorobyov said 185 drones had been “destroyed or neutralised” over the wider Moscow region. He added that 47 houses, four flats and three cars were damaged.
The reported strike ended a relative lull in large Ukrainian attacks on Moscow since September 20, as both countries intensify long-range attacks on infrastructure before winter.
Russian war blogger Yuri Podolyaka claimed that an oil storage tank had been hit at the Volodarskaya oil storage and distribution facility, although there was no official confirmation of damage there.
The facility stores diesel, petrol and jet fuel and is described as one of the major distribution hubs operated by Transneft. It is linked to Moscow’s main oil refinery and supplies fuel to the capital’s three large airports.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted oil refineries, depots and export terminals in an effort to cut the revenues used by Moscow to finance the war, which Russia began in February 2022.
Separately, Moscow-installed authorities in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region said a Ukrainian drone struck a minibus, killing three people and injuring three others. Kremlin-appointed official Yevgeny Balitsky said the driver was among those killed.
The attacks come as Russia has stepped up strikes on Kyiv, using missiles and drones by night and day. Both sides have increased attacks in the fifth year of the war, while diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the fighting.
