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Associated Press

Moscow came under one of the largest attacks yet by Ukrainian drones since the start of fighting in 2022, Russian authorities reported on Wednesday, saying they destroyed all of those headed toward the capital.
The drone attacks come as Ukrainian forces are continuing to push into Russia’s western Kursk region.
“This was one of the biggest attempts of all time to attack Moscow using drones,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel. He said strong defences around the capital made it possible to shoot down all the drones before they hit their intended targets.
Russia downed 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 11 over the Moscow region.
Some Russian social media channels shared videos of drones apparently being destroyed by air defence systems, which then set off car alarms.
Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, reported a “mass” attack on his region but said that all 23 drones were destroyed.
While Ukraine has been bogged down in a land conflict in eastern Ukraine in which the Russians have been driving forward slowly at a heavy cost to both sides, Kyiv has also been attacking Russia with drones. Ukraine has targeted oil refineries and airfields in an attempt to weaken Russia’s fighting potential, and also has targeted the capital several times.

The daring incursion into Russia has raised morale in Ukraine with its surprising success and changed the dynamic of the fighting. But it’s uncertain how long Ukraine will be able to hold the territory it has seized in Kursk.
It has also opened up another front in a fight where Ukrainian forces were already badly stretched. The gains in Kursk come as Ukraine continues to lose ground in its eastern industrial region of Donbas.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, said in its daily report late on Tuesday that the Ukrainians had made additional advances in their incursion in Kursk, now in its third week.
The Russian state news agency Tass reported that 31 people had died since Ukraine’s attack on Russia began August 6, citing an unnamed source in the medical service – figures which are impossible to verify. It said 143 people had suffered injuries, of whom 79 were hospitalised, including four children.

Ukraine’s attacks on three bridges over the Seym River in Kursk, in areas it does not control, could potentially trap Russian forces between the river, the Ukrainian advance and the Ukrainian border. Already they appear to be slowing down Russia’s response to the Kursk incursion.
Ukrainian forces appear to be striking Russian pontoon bridges and pontoon engineering equipment over the Seym in an area west of the Ukrainian advance point, the Washington think tank said.
On Wednesday, Ukraine said its forces were using US-manufactured HIMARS rocket systems to destroy pontoon bridges and engineering equipment in Russia’s Kursk region.
It was first official statement from Kyiv that Western weapons are part of the unprecedented offensive.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analysed on Wednesday showed a significant fire on the Seym near the village of Krasnooktyabrskoe.
The blaze appeared on the northern bank of the river on Tuesday, with another fire seemingly in the village itself. Such fires are common after strikes and often signify where ongoing front-line combat is taking place.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Russia

Ukraine war: Moscow sees one of Ukraine’s largest drone attacks as fighting rages in Kursk

An armoured vehicle destroyed by Russian forces, reportedly used by Ukrainian forces during their military incursion into the Kursk region, Russia. Photo: EPA-EFE/Russian Defence Ministry Press-Service 

Fires near the village of Krasnooktyabrskoe in Russia’s Kursk region. Photo: Planet Labs PBC/AP

A woman walks past a bus stop with an advertising poster calling for military conscription in front of the Kremlin in Moscow. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ukraine war: Zelensky never told allies about ‘unrealistic’ invasion of Russia’s Kursk region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country did not inform their allies about the planned incursion on Kursk because it would have seemed “unrealistic” to them. Photo: AFP

Ukraine ended up notching significant battlefield gains after catching the Russians off guard. Photo: TNS

Ukraine war: Russia rules out Kyiv peace talks as Zelensky says Kursk campaign a success

A civilian bus rides past a Ukrainian tank on a road in a village near the border with Russia in the Sumy region, Ukraine, on August 18. Photo: EPA-EFE

A building damaged by Ukrainian strikes, following the invasion of Ukraine forces into the Kursk region. Photo: EPA-EFE

A satellite image shows a strategic bridge over the Seym River that has been destroyed, in Kursk Region, Russia, August 18, 2024. Photo: Planet Labs Inc./Reuters

Putin visits Chechnya for first time in 13 years, meets troops readying to fight Ukraine

Vladimir Putin visits the Russian Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya, on August 20. Photo: Sputnik via Reuters

Russia strikes back at Ukrainian forces in Kursk region

A Lancet drone ready to strike a mobile missile launcher of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the border area in the Kursk region, Russia, on August 12. Photo: EPA-EFE/Russian Defence Ministry

Military operations following an incursion of Ukrainian troops into Russian territory on August 11. Photo: RKadyrov_95 via Telegram/via Reuters

Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia. Photo: AFP

Ukraine war: as Russian troops close in, Kyiv urges civilians to evacuate Pokrovsk

Women with children walk to board an evacuation train in Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, on August 2, amid the Russian advances in that area. Photo: AFP

Civilians, evacuated from the Kursk Region border, receive humanitarian aid as they arrive in downtown Kursk, Russia, on August 16. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ukrainian servicemen fire artillery toward Russian positions, in an undisclosed area, in the Pokrovsk district, in the eastern Donetsk region, on August 8. Photo: AFP

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Russia’s defence ministry said it destroyed 45 drones over Russian territory, including 11 over the Moscow region


Russia’s defence ministry said it destroyed 45 drones over Russian territory, including 11 over the Moscow region,


Ukraine

Ukraine war

War and conflict

Drones