Russian air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 144 Ukrainian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) overnight across nine regions, including the capital, Moscow. The Russian Defence Ministry today reported that the UAVs were part of a large-scale attack by the Ukrainian military on Russian targets. The statement said, nine of the downed drones targeted Moscow and the Moscow region. Russian authorities said at least one person was killed near Moscow. Three of Moscow’s four airports were closed for more than six hours and almost 50 flights were diverted. The drones shot down resulted in a fire in a Moscow refinery and at a power plant in the Tver region neighbouring Moscow.

The Defence Ministry said several more UAVs were shot down over nine other Russian regions.

At the start of this month, the country’s air defence had also intercepted and destroyed 158 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions.