Ukraine carried out a large overnight drone operation against Russian regions, Russian-occupied Crimea and nearby waters, with Moscow's Defence Ministry saying its air defences intercepted 660 aircraft.
If accurate, the Russian count would make the attack one of Ukraine's biggest drone salvos since Russia began its full-scale invasion more than four years earlier. The previous largest such operation reported during the prior year involved 556 drones on May 17. Russia did not provide a comprehensive account of intended targets or resulting damage.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 47 drones headed toward the capital were downed and reported no casualties or damage there. The independent Russian outlet Astra reported fires at a chemical plant and a hydroelectric facility in Novomoskovsk, but those claims lacked official confirmation and could not be independently verified in the supplied reporting.
Ukraine's Security Service said its drones attacked Russian naval vessels and air-defence radar equipment at Kerch, a strategically important Crimean port. It identified the reconnaissance and minelaying ships *Volga* and *Vyatka*, along with the passenger-cargo ferry *Petropavlovsk*, and claimed a major fire followed. Independent confirmation of those claimed hits was not available.
The operation formed part of Ukraine's expanding use of domestically developed long-range drones. Kyiv has increasingly directed them at oil, energy and transport assets beyond the front, seeking to disrupt Russian fuel supplies and military logistics. Western analysts and officials cited in the reporting assessed that the campaign had added pressure on Moscow's war effort, though the effect of this particular night's attacks was not yet clear.
Hours before the assault, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to a 40-day effort intended to pressure Russia toward ending the conflict. His statement followed a year of US-backed diplomacy that had not produced a settlement. The two sides nevertheless completed a prisoner exchange on Friday, with 160 people returned to each country.
Russia continued its own aerial campaign over Ukraine during the same period. Ukrainian authorities said attacks in several regions killed at least three people and injured more than 20. Ukraine's air force reported stopping 174 of 189 Russian drones, while four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles penetrated its defences.
The parallel barrages underscored the expanding reach of the war's aerial dimension. Both states were able to send large numbers of unmanned aircraft over long distances, while claims about interceptions and target damage remained difficult to verify independently in real time.
Kyiv was also watching Russian activity inside Belarus. Ukrainian border officials said they saw more training areas and bases deeper in the country but no concentration of Russian units or equipment close to Ukraine's border. That assessment mattered because Russia had used Belarusian territory when launching the 2022 invasion.
