Russia reports 641 Ukrainian drones downed in massive overnight attack

Russian regions came under a massive drone attack overnight on September 17, 2026, with the Russian Defence Ministry claiming that air defences intercepted and destroyed 641 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones.

“During the past night, duty air defence forces intercepted and destroyed 641 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over the territories of Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kostroma, Kursk, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula and Yaroslavl regions, Krasnodar region, the Moscow region, the Republic of Crimea, as well as over the waters of the Azov, Caspian and Black seas,” the ministry said.

Among the areas hit hardest were Tula and Yaroslavl regions. Air defences downed 12 drones in Tula Region, while 65 UAVs were intercepted in Yaroslavl Region, where an oil refinery was also damaged.

Elsewhere, the attacks resulted in civilian casualties. Six civilians were injured in Belgorod Region, while a woman was killed and seven people were wounded in attacks on Donetsk.

Moscow was also among the areas targeted overnight. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin initially said Russian Defence Ministry air defence forces had intercepted and shot down two Ukrainian UAVs flying toward the capital overnight into Thursday, September 17. He later reported that another four drones had been downed, bringing the total number of UAVs intercepted over the Moscow area to six. Emergency crews are working at the sites where drone debris fell, while information on possible damage and casualties is still being clarified.

By Jeyhun Aghazada