Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its forces shot down at least 143 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and other regions between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon.
In a statement, the ministry said more than half of the drones were intercepted over the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions, which border Ukraine. It added that three drones were shot down over the Moscow region.
In Belgorod, which borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said drone strikes killed three people and injured 17 others.
Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev reported that a drone hit a residential building in his region, injuring three minors. He added that five drones were intercepted in Voronezh, located about 200 kilometers north of Ukraine.
The Smolensk and Kaluga regions also reported casualties. In Smolensk, Governor Vasily Anokhin said 14 drones were downed, with one person injured. In Kaluga, Governor Vladislav Shapsha reported that three drones were shot down and a 14-year-old girl was hurt by glass fragments when a drone struck a house.
Following the attacks, temporary flight restrictions were imposed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, Kaluga’s Grabtsevo Airport southwest of the capital, and St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, according to Artem Korenyako, spokesperson for Russia’s federal aviation agency Rosaviatsiya.
Ukraine has not commented on the strikes. Its air force reported that Russia launched 64 drones into Ukraine overnight, of which 41 were shot down.
In Donetsk, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said a Russian airstrike hit a shopping center and residential buildings in the town of Dobropillia, killing four people and injuring 27 others.
🇷🇺 #Russia – 🇺🇦 #Ukraine: Russia struck a store in Dobropillia, Donetsk region, with a 500 KG glide bomb hitting the city center yesterday.
Four people were killed and another 27 injured. A total of 11 tons of building debris were cleared in a rescue operation by the emergency… pic.twitter.com/DhJaknTghj
— POPULAR FRONT (@PopularFront_) July 18, 2025
In a post on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, describing it as “horrendous, dumb Russian terror.”
“[This is] simply an attempt to kill as many as possible. Russia is all about vile strikes like this,” he added.
