Russia reports largest-ever drone attack, claims to have repelled 337 UAVs

The Russian Defense Ministry reports.

Thus, at night,  Russian air defense allegedly destroyed and intercepted 337 drones.

Among them, 91 UAVs were allegedly destroyed over the territory of the Moscow region, 126 UAVs - over the territory of the Kursk region, 38 - over the Bryansk region, 25 - over the Belgorod region, 22 - over the Ryazan region, 10 - over the Kaluga region, 8 - over the Lipetsk region, 8 - over the Orel region, 6 - over the Voronezh region, and three - over the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region.

In turn, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal investigation into the massive attack.

Attack on Moscow

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported the attack on Moscow on Telegram. At 3:35 a.m., he claimed that Russian air defense had repelled an attack by six drones flying toward Moscow in the Ramensky urban district. He wrote about the alleged fall of debris.

Later, according to him, another UAV was shot down, which was headed for the Russian capital. 

“The Defense Ministry's air defense forces in the Domodedovo urban district and Ramenskoe urban district repelled an attack by four drones flying towards Moscow. According to preliminary data, there is no damage or casualties at the crash site,” he wrote at 3:54 a.m. 

Soon after, Sobyanin reported the alleged repulsion of five more drones, and then ten. 

As of 4:57 a.m., the number of drones allegedly shot down by Russian air defense, according to the Moscow mayor, was 58.  As of 6:05 a.m., Sobyanin reported that the Russian Defense Ministry's air defense forces had already shot down 69 drones flying toward Moscow.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has announced the suspension of flights at Moscow's Zhukovsky and Domodedovo airports. Restrictions were also imposed at Nizhny Novgorod's Strigino airport and Yaroslavl's Tunoshna airport. Later, restrictions on flights were also imposed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said that a person was allegedly killed in the Leninsky urban district and Domodedovo as a result of the attack. He also said that three people were wounded.

“In total, more than 60 drones were shot down. Calls about the UAVs came from Kolomna, Zaraysk, Sribnye Stavki, Serpukhov, Ramenskoe, Voskresensk, Lukhovitsy, Bronnytsy, Domodedovo, Leninskoye, Podolsk, Elektrostal and Kotelniki,” he wrote.

Later it became known that the number of victims had allegedly increased to 6.

At around 7:20 a.m., Sobyanin wrote that Russian air defense continued to repel the attack on Moscow. At that time, he said, 73 drones had been shot down.

Later, the mayor of Moscow said that this was the most massive UAV attack on the city since the beginning of the invasion. According to him, air defense forces destroyed 74 drones.

Attack on Ryazan

Regional governor Pavel Malkov wrote about the alleged UAV attack on Ryazan. 

“The Defense Ministry's air defense systems have worked out a drone attack over the territory of Ryazan. There were no casualties, no residential buildings or social infrastructure were damaged,” the statement said. 

• On the evening of March 8, Russia reported an alleged drone attack in the Rostov region. Russians were warned about the drone threat almost an hour late.