On the night of 19 July, more than 400 drones were flying towards the Moscow region, said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. According to him, most of the drones were reportedly neutralised well outside the city, whilst 85 were shot down as they approached the capital. Reports of fires in the region were circulating on Telegram.
Briefly about the main points
- Sobyanin reported that more than 400 UAVs were heading towards the Moscow region.
- The Mayor of Moscow has reported that 85 drones were allegedly shot down near the capital.
- Reports of fires in Podolsk and Domodedovo require confirmation.
- Six people with blast injuries have been admitted to hospital in Domodedovo.
- On 18 July, strikes hit targets in Elektrostal, Kotovsk and Noginsk.
Statement by the Moscow authorities
Sobyanin reported that the drones were heading towards the region between 20:30 on 19 July and 05:00 on 20 July. He did not specify exactly where the drones were launched from, nor did he provide details of where they crashed or the outcome of the air defence response.
The figure of over 400 refers to drones which, according to the mayor, were heading towards the Moscow region. It does not mean that the same number of UAVs reached Moscow or targets in the region. It is not possible to independently verify the Russian side’s estimate.
Reports of fires and injuries
Russian Telegram channels and certain media outlets reported a fire at a logistics facility in Podolsk, which they linked to Wildberries, regarding a fire at an oil depot near the village of Lvovskiy and smoke in the area of the «Pivdenni Vorota» industrial park in Domodedovo. At the time of publication, this information had not been confirmed by the Russian authorities, Wildberries or major international news agencies.
AFP reported that a hospital in Domodedovo had admitted six people with blast injuries, including three foreigners. At that point, no link had been established between these injuries and the night-time drone attack.
The previous attack on 18 July
Two days earlier, on 18 July, drones attacked Wildberries warehouses in Elektrostal, in the Moscow Region, and in Kotovsk, in the Tambov Region, as well as a fuel facility in Noginsk. The Associated Press and Reuters reported that seven night-shift workers were killed in Kotovsk, with a further 25 people injured.
According to updated figures from the Governor of the Moscow Region Andriy Vorobyov, during the attack on 18 July, one person was killed in the region; 61 sought medical attention and 40 were hospitalised. The President Volodymyr Zelenskyy He then stated that the two logistics facilities that had been hit were being used by Russia to supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment.
Pressure on the region’s air defences
If the figure cited by Sobyanin is accurate, the night of 20 July marked a continuation of the large-scale attacks following the strikes on 18 July against targets in the Moscow and Tambov regions. At the same time, there is insufficient confirmed data to link specific targets, as reported by Telegram channels in Podolsk and Domodedovo, to this series of attacks.
The Russian statement regarding hundreds of drones points to the massive strain which, according to their account, the air defence systems near the capital were subjected to. The actual consequences of the night-time attack on targets in the Moscow region may become clearer following reports from official sources or independent sources.
