Russia Says It Downed 419 Ukrainian Drones as Moscow Region Strike Kills Infant

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Russia said on Tuesday that its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 419 Ukrainian drones in one of the latest large-scale aerial attacks on the country, with authorities reporting that a six-month-old baby was killed after a drone strike in the Moscow region.

Russia's Defense Ministry said air defense systems shot down the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles overnight across multiple regions of the country.

In the Moscow region, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said a Ukrainian drone struck a private home in the village of Yevgoryevsk, southwest of the Russian capital.

"Unfortunately, a six-month-old baby died on the way to hospital," Vorobyov wrote on Telegram. He added that two adults and another child were injured and hospitalized.

Earlier, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defenses had intercepted 61 Ukrainian drones targeting the capital since Monday evening, preventing significant damage within the city.

The latest barrage came just days after Russian authorities reported shooting down 660 Ukrainian drones between Thursday and Friday, one of the largest waves of Ukrainian drone attacks since the start of the war.

Last week, another Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at an oil refinery southeast of Moscow, underscoring Kyiv's continued efforts to target Russian energy infrastructure.

Ukraine has significantly expanded its long-range drone campaign in recent months as the war, now approaching four and a half years, has settled into a grinding conflict marked by deep strikes behind front lines.

Unable to match Russia's larger arsenal of missiles and aircraft, Kyiv has increasingly relied on domestically produced long-range drones to strike military facilities, air bases, ammunition depots, logistics hubs and energy infrastructure deep inside Russian territory.

Ukrainian officials argue that attacks on oil refineries, fuel depots and other energy facilities are aimed at weakening a key source of revenue that helps finance Moscow's military campaign.

The strategy has also sought to disrupt Russian military logistics and demonstrate that areas far from the front lines remain vulnerable to attack.

Russia has responded by expanding its layered air defense network around Moscow and other strategic regions while continuing its own large-scale missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

The escalating exchange of long-range attacks has become a defining feature of the conflict, as diplomatic efforts to end the war have repeatedly stalled.