Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an attack on the Moscow region on the night of May 17. Ukrainian media outlets claim this is the largest attack on Moscow since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with dozens of objects damaged.
According to Sobyanin's Telegram messages, 81 drones approaching Moscow were shot down between midnight and 7 a.m., and air defense forces destroyed over 120 drones in the last 24 hours.
Sobyanin stated that one of the strikes hit the entrance of the Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya, where construction workers were injured. “The plant's technology was not damaged,” he said. Footage taken by witnesses shows a drone falling near the plant. It is unclear exactly where it hit.
As a result of the drone attack, 12 people were reportedly injured, most of them near the refinery entrance. Additionally, three houses were damaged. According to the Astra publication, the facade of a residential building in Zelenograd (part of Moscow) was damaged. Witnesses provided photos of the aftermath of a drone hitting an apartment building on Mikhailov Street.
The target in Zelenograd was the Elma technopark, which produces electronic and optical equipment.
After the Ukrainian drone attack, a fire broke out at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, Astra reports. According to preliminary data, the fire started on the third runway. The airport administration said drone debris fell there, located “at a safe distance from passenger service areas and aircraft.” The airport was closed during the attack, resulting in about 200 flights being canceled or delayed. Some planes were diverted to alternate airfields.
Moscow region. Governor Andrey Vorobyov reported that three local residents were killed and four injured in the attack on the region. According to him, a woman died in Khimki from a drone hitting residential buildings, and a man and a woman died in Mytishchi.
The governor said drones hit apartment buildings in Krasnogorsk and Dedovsk, private homes in Agrogorodok near Istra and the village of Subbotino near Naro-Fominsk. Footage taken by witnesses shows a drone hitting an apartment building in Khimki; officials confirmed this information.
“In addition, infrastructure facilities in several municipal districts were attacked,” Vorobyov stated. According to Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels, a fire broke out at the Solnechnogorsk oil pumping station after the strike on the Moscow region. The station is designed for receiving, storing, and distributing petroleum products. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that from 10:00 p.m. on May 16 (midnight Tashkent time) to 7:00 a.m. on May 17, air defense forces shot down 556 Ukrainian drones over Russian territories and annexed Crimea.
The Russian armed forces, in turn, launched attacks on several Ukrainian cities on the night of May 17.
As a result of a drone attack on Dnipro, local authorities reported several fires. Three people were injured. One enterprise and private houses were damaged.
In the Zaporozhye district of the Zaporozhye region, a gas station was damaged by a strike from Russian armed forces. Authorities reported one woman injured.
Russian armed forces also attacked the city of Sumy, resulting in broken windows in apartment buildings, damage to a shopping center and cars.
At night, Russia struck Kharkiv, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported. Seven cars were burned. The blast wave broke windows in apartment buildings and private houses. No one was injured.
The Ukrainian Air Force stated that Russia launched a total of 287 drones overnight, of which 279 were shot down. Eight drones hit seven regions, and drone debris fell in seven more locations.
“Over this week, the Russians fired more than 3,170 strike drones, more than 1,300 guided aerial bombs, and 74 missiles of various types, most of which are ballistic missiles. Numerous strikes were carried out on residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Unfortunately, as a result of the shelling this week, 52 people were killed… Another 346 people, including 22 children, were injured,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel after the night attacks.
Source: www.gazeta.uz