Blazes have been reported in the Russian capital and more than a dozen people wounded in the surrounding region, in one of Kiev’s largest aerial attacks

Published 18 Jun, 2026 06:06 | Updated 18 Jun, 2026 12:41

A firefighting helicopter is carrying water as black smoke billows from the area of Gazprom Neftas Moscow oil refinery, Moscow, June 18, 2026. © Getty Images / Sefa Karacan / Anadolu

At least 17 people have been wounded after the Ukrainian military launched one of its largest drone raids against Moscow, Russian officials have said.

Air defenses shot down at least 194 UAVs on the approach to the Russian capital overnight, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin wrote in a Telegram post on Thursday morning.

Some drones made it through and caused blazes, with witnesses reporting large plumes of thick black smoke in several areas in and outside the city.

Several drones reached the Moscow Oil Refinery in the southeastern Kapotnya district of the city, Sobyanin said. Firefighters have been deployed to the site.

The map of the Ukrainian drone raid on Moscow. © RT

Debris from a downed UAV delivered minor damage to a building at the Sadovod shopping center in southeastern Moscow, according to the mayor. 

Two children among civilians wounded in Moscow Region

Nine people, including a three-year-old child, suffered shrapnel wounds and other injuries in the town of Kotelniki east of the capital as a result of the Ukrainian drone raid, Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyev said on Telegram.

©  Telegram / Andrey Vorobyev

In Ramenskoye, south-west of Moscow, three people were wounded, including a ten-year-old girl, he said.

 

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A drone struck an apartment block in the city of Zhukovsky, located 20 km southeast of the capital, the governor said. One person was hospitalized in the city with a wound to his neck, he added.

Debris from destroyed drones fell in several locations in Lyubertsy, east of Moscow, according to Vorobyev. Two men were hospitalized there, with one sustaining a hip injury and the other fracturing his arm, he wrote.

The roof of the nearby Belaya Dacha mall on the Moscow Ring Road caught fire during the raid by Ukrainian forces, Vorobyev said. The administration later announced that it was temporarily shutting down the mall as firefighters tackled the blaze, which was extinguished after several hours.

One person was also injured in Solnechnogorsk and another in the attack on the Sadovod shopping center, the governor said.

Telegram / Andrey Vorobyev

Falling drone debris damaged private homes and vehicles in the cities of Chekhov and Elektrostal as well as other areas, he added.

Hundreds of flights delayed at Moscow airports

The drone raid prompted temporary airspace restrictions around the Russian capital, affecting all four of Moscow’s international airports, according to the federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsia.

A total of 527 flights were delayed or canceled at Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports, Interfax reported, citing airport timetable data.

Over 550 drones downed across Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry said more than 550 Ukrainian UAVs had been shot down across the country since Wednesday evening.

 

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The interceptions took place in Moscow, Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Vladimir, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Orel, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, Rostov, and Ryazan regions, as well as in Crimea and over the Sea of Azov, it said.

One person was killed and two others wounded in a drone attack on the town of Gukovo in Rostov Region, according to Governor Yury Slusar.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday that Russian forces carried out another strike overnight against Ukraine’s military-linked energy infrastructure in response to terrorist attacks by Kiev.

A fuel depot outside Kiev and an oil refinery in Poltava Region were hit with missiles and drones, it said.