Ukraine Unleashes Massive Drone Barrage Deep Into Russia as Drones Swarm Toward Moscow (VIDEO)

Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Russian territory since the war began, striking targets near Moscow and forcing Russian authorities to scramble air defenses overnight.

Russian officials said at least four people were killed in the attacks, including three in the Moscow region, as hundreds of drones targeted Russian territory in a major escalation of Kyiv’s long-range campaign against the country that invaded it in 2022.

Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyev said a woman was killed after a drone struck her home in Khimki, northwest of the Russian capital.

Two other men were reported killed in Pogorelki, a village roughly six miles north of Moscow.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at least 12 people were injured, many near the city’s oil refinery.

Russian state media, citing officials, reported that 81 drones heading toward Moscow were intercepted overnight.

Russia’s defense ministry later claimed 556 drones had been destroyed across the country, before saying the total number shot down or electronically jammed over a 24-hour period had exceeded 1,000.

“1,054(!) Ukrainian drones and 8 guided aerial bombs were shot down within 24 hours by air defense systems,” the Russian ministry of defense reported.

📹 Transneft, Moscow region https://t.co/DNeQZYvf3k pic.twitter.com/aT5To4MWjw

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) May 17, 2026

Debris was also reported at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, though authorities said no damage was caused.

The scale of the attack marked another sign that Ukraine is increasingly willing and able to take the war onto Russian soil after enduring years of missile strikes, drone bombardments, and infrastructure attacks from Moscow.

Ukraine also came under heavy attack, with Russia launching 287 drones overnight. Of those, 279 were reportedly intercepted or neutralized.

This week, the Russians launched more than 3,170 attack drones, over 1,300 guided aerial bombs, and 74 missiles of various types, most of them ballistic, against Ukraine. There were many hits on residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Unfortunately, 52 people… pic.twitter.com/FjJeiXx1Sb

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 17, 2026

Ukrainian emergency officials said eight people were injured in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, including three in Dnipro, four in Kryvyi Rih, and one in the Synelnykove district.

Residential buildings were damaged in all three locations.

Both sides have dramatically expanded drone warfare as the conflict grinds on, with increasingly sophisticated strikes reaching far behind front lines.

Ukraine has framed its deep strikes inside Russia as legitimate retaliation against the state responsible for launching the full-scale invasion, while Moscow continues to portray such attacks as terrorism.

Ben Kew is a writer and editor. Originally from the UK, he moved to the U.S. to cover Congress for Breitbart News and has since gone on to editorial roles at Human Events, Townhall Media, and Americano Media. He has also written for The Epoch Times, The Western Journal, and The Spectator.

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