Ukrainian forces launched a large-scale drone attack targeting Moscow and the surrounding Moscow region overnight on August 18, according to Russian officials and local reports.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Russian air defenses intercepted at least 197 Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region during the overnight assault. Russian officials claimed that more than 600 drones had been launched toward the region.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its air defense systems destroyed or intercepted a total of 791 Ukrainian drones across 13 Russian regions during the night.

Several incidents and fires were reported in the Moscow region as a result of the attack. Russian state media reported that a Wildberries warehouse outside Moscow was damaged. The facility had previously been targeted during another major Ukrainian drone attack on August 16.

Reports also indicated that a residential building in Pavlovsky Posad, about 67 kilometers (42 miles) east of Moscow, was damaged. Local reports said a fire was seen on the roof of a building after Russian air defense systems engaged incoming drones.

Additional fires were reportedly observed at an aluminum plant in the Moscow region and at a residential property in Lyubertsy, immediately outside Moscow.

Footage reportedly recorded by residents in Staraya Kupavna, approximately 23 kilometers (14 miles) east of Moscow, showed people fleeing and vehicles moving rapidly through the streets as explosions were heard in the area.

Moscow Oblast Governor Andrey Vorobyov said a car and a transformer substation were damaged in the city of Elektrostal, around 58 kilometers (36 miles) east of Moscow. The full extent of the damage was not immediately known.

The reports and damage claims could not be independently verified.

The reported attack came just two days after another major Ukrainian drone assault on the Moscow region damaged a large warehouse belonging to Wildberries, one of Russia’s largest online retailers.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry confirmed the August 16 attack on the facility, describing it as the company’s largest warehouse, with an area of approximately 250,000 square meters.

Wildberries has increasingly featured in reporting surrounding Ukrainian strikes because the company’s platform lists various products associated with military use, including drone components and body armor. Its banking arm was also sanctioned by the European Union in July over its alleged contribution to Russia’s state budget.

The company remains a major player in Russia’s consumer economy.

Drone attacks targeting Moscow and other areas deep inside Russia have become increasingly frequent as Ukraine seeks to disrupt Russian military and logistical capabilities.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted military infrastructure, ammunition facilities, fuel depots and other strategic sites inside Russia and in Ukrainian territories under Russian control.

Kyiv has argued that long-range strikes are intended to reduce Russia’s ability to sustain its military operations against Ukraine.

Russian authorities, meanwhile, have increasingly relied on air defense systems to counter Ukrainian drone attacks, with Moscow and the surrounding region becoming frequent targets.

The scale of the latest reported assault, including Russia’s claim of nearly 800 drones intercepted across multiple regions, underscores the growing intensity of long-range drone warfare more than three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (ILKHA)