613 Drones Launched Towards Moscow Overnight as Russia Says Most Were Shot Down

Photo: AFP via Al Jazeera, file photo (September 2026, not the overnight Moscow attack)

Russia says 613 drones were launched towards Moscow overnight, in one of the biggest drone attacks on the Russian capital in this war, with Moscow's mayor saying 231 were destroyed as they approached the city and the rest were stopped further out.

The attack ran from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who gave the figures on Telegram. Russian state news agency TASS reported that Russia had downed most of the drones. The reports so far do not give a casualty figure for the Moscow attack.

Main News Report

Sobyanin said air defence forces destroyed 231 drones on approach to Moscow, while the rest were neutralised on distant approaches. His running updates through the night show how the count built up: 57 drones reported shot down after an air raid warning in Moscow Oblast at around 10pm local time, then 109 by 5am, and finally 613 for the whole night after 6am.

The attack also hit air travel. Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency imposed restrictions on arrivals and departures at three Moscow airports: Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky. The restriction at Zhukovsky was lifted an hour later, while the other two airports were still taking aircraft only with approval. Two aircraft flying from Turkiye to Moscow were diverted because of the restrictions at Vnukovo, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

Explosions were heard near the town of Naro-Fominsk, about 56 kilometres from Moscow's main ring road, and in the direction of Kaluga Oblast, the Russian outlet Astra reported. Sobyanin said in each update that emergency workers were at work where debris had fallen. As usual, Russian authorities did not report the full consequences of the attack.

At the same time, Russia struck Ukraine's second biggest city, Kharkiv. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that an educational institution was damaged in the attack, Al Jazeera reported.

Background Context

Drone attacks on the Moscow region have grown bigger through the war, and this is the latest in a run of major assaults on the capital area. Moscow authorities had already complained about drone attacks on two nights in a row earlier this month.

The scale here stands out even against that trend. Al Jazeera notes that a record attack in September saw Russian air defences report shooting down more than 1,600 drones aimed at the Moscow region. The overnight figure of 613 is well below that record, but it is still a very large single night attack, and it shows both sides can now launch drone raids in the hundreds.

The war has also spilled into the wider region in recent days. Russia struck a bridge in Kyiv in overnight attacks this week, as reported in our earlier post on the Kyiv south bridge strike, and the fighting continues alongside a tense standoff over Iran, covered in our post on the US warning to Gulf states.

Reactions and Statements

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin gave the main account of the night, posting update after update on Telegram as the drone count rose. He said most of the drones were downed well before reaching the capital, with 231 destroyed as they approached Moscow itself.

Russian state news agency TASS reported that Russia had downed most of the 613 drones. Reuters, carrying the same mayoral account, reported that Russia downed most of the drones heading towards Moscow overnight.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that Russia had attacked his city and damaged an educational institution. No statement from Ukraine about the Moscow drone attack itself appears in the reports so far, and the 613 figure comes from the Russian side, so it should be read as Moscow's claim, not as a figure both sides agree on.

Why This News Matters

The key figures tell the story in one glance:

• 613 drones: the total Sobyanin says flew towards Moscow Oblast overnight.
• 231 drones: destroyed on approach to Moscow itself.
• 3 airports: Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky faced flight restrictions, with diversions.
• More than 1,600 drones: the record September attack on the Moscow region, for comparison.

For readers in Pakistan, this matters because a war that can put 613 drones in the air in one night is a war that keeps pushing up global risk, from energy prices to shipping and food supply lines. Big attacks on a capital city also tend to bring a sharp response, and that cycle is what keeps the war in the headlines and on markets.

The airport disruption is a plain sign of how close the war now sits to daily life in Moscow. When flights are diverted and airports need approval for each landing, the war is no longer far away for the people living in the capital.

Future Developments

Watch for three things next. First, whether Ukraine says anything about the attack, and whether its account matches Moscow's 613 figure. Second, whether Russia answers with a bigger strike on Ukrainian cities, as it did in Kharkiv in the same night. Third, whether Moscow's airports return to normal, and whether any damage or casualty reports come out once debris sites are fully checked.

The September record of more than 1,600 drones shows the ceiling is higher than this attack. If both sides keep scaling up drone raids, nights like this one could become more common, not less.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: Russia says more than 600 drones launched towards Moscow overnight
• Reuters: Ukraine sends drones towards Moscow, Russia strikes Kharkiv, officials say
• Ukrainska Pravda: Moscow reports more than 600 drones heading towards the Russian capital
• PakInsight Hub: Ethiopia receives 12 Russian Su-35 fighter jets

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