According to a report by France 24 on Sunday, May 17, 2026, Ukraine launched one of its largest drone assaults of the war, deploying around 600 unmanned aerial vehicles against targets inside Russia overnight, in an escalation that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as a “justified” response to Moscow’s continued military campaign.
Russian authorities said four people were killed in the widespread overnight strikes, which they described as one of the most extensive Ukrainian drone barrages since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
According to Russia’s defence ministry, air defence systems intercepted drones across more than a dozen regions, including the Moscow metropolitan area, parts of Crimea, and areas around the Black and Azov seas. The ministry said the interceptions took place in 14 regions in total, with the capital region among the most heavily targeted.
Local officials reported fatalities in several locations near Moscow. A woman was killed in Khimki, just northwest of the capital, after a drone struck her home. Two men also died in Pogorelki, a village about 10 kilometres north of Moscow, according to regional governor Andrei Vorobyev. He added that drones damaged residential buildings and unspecified infrastructure in the area.
In Moscow itself, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at least 12 people were injured, with most of the casualties occurring near an oil refinery site on the outskirts of the city. He stated that debris from intercepted drones fell in multiple locations but insisted that refinery operations were not disrupted and its core infrastructure remained intact.
Russian state media reported that air defence systems shot down 81 drones heading toward Moscow alone, underscoring the scale of the attack. Authorities also confirmed that debris from drones fell within the grounds of Sheremetyevo International Airport, the country’s busiest aviation hub, though no damage was reported.
Further casualties were recorded in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, where one man was killed after a drone struck a lorry, local officials said.
In parallel developments, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 287 drones into Ukrainian territory overnight, of which 279 were either destroyed or jammed. Ukraine’s emergency services said eight people were injured in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, including three in Dnipro, four in Kryvyi Rih, and one in Synelnykove district. Residential buildings were damaged across all affected areas.
The exchange of large-scale aerial attacks comes amid a continued escalation in cross-border strikes, as both sides intensify long-range operations targeting infrastructure and military assets. Ukraine has increasingly focused on facilities inside Russia it says support Moscow’s war effort, particularly energy and logistics infrastructure.
Zelenskyy defended the latest strikes, saying Ukraine’s actions were a direct response to Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukrainian cities and communities.
“Our responses to Russia’s prolongation of the war and its attacks on our cities and communities are entirely justified,” he said in a post on X. He added that Ukrainian forces are capable of reaching targets deep inside Russian territory despite the concentration of air defence systems around Moscow.
“The distance from Ukraine’s state border is over 500 km. The concentration of Russian air defence in the Moscow region is the highest. But we are overcoming it,” he said.
He also reiterated Ukraine’s position that pressure on Russia must continue until the war ends, stating that the country “must end its war….See More
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