Russia Faces Most Intense Wave of Drone Attacks to Date
Drozdenko revealed that Monday alone saw the destruction of 70 drones in a single day, marking the most intense 24-hour barrage of the campaign. In the most recent overnight period, air defense units downed an additional 36 drones.
"Since March 22, the region has been on heightened alert, repelling unprecedented attacks by enemy UAVs," he wrote on Russian social media platform Max, noting that emergency services have been operating continuously around the clock.
While the majority of drones were neutralized before reaching their targets, some struck infrastructure and transport facilities, inflicting limited damage. The primary focus of the attacks appeared to be Ust-Luga, a strategically vital port that serves as a key artery for Russia's energy exports. The facility was struck again overnight, triggering a fire that rescue crews moved swiftly to contain.
The intensity of the assault reverberated far beyond the immediate strike zones. Temporary flight restrictions were repeatedly enforced at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport, cascading into 117 flight cancellations and 211 delays — a significant disruption to one of Russia's busiest aviation hubs.
Drozdenko urged civilians to strictly observe air raid safety protocols, including limiting non-essential travel, keeping clear of windows, and refraining from approaching drone wreckage or documenting air defense activity.
The drone offensive extended to Moscow, where Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed via Max that the capital had also come under aerial attack, with emergency units deployed to a crash site. Further south, Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported one civilian fatality from Ukrainian shelling, while authorities in the Samara region disclosed that an industrial facility in Tolyatti had sustained a direct hit.
On the other side of the front lines, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered a sweeping account of the aerial war's scale, stating that more than 3,000 Russian drones — alongside 1,450 guided aerial bombs and 40 missiles — had been intercepted across Ukraine during the same week.
Drawing an explicit parallel between the conflicts engulfing two separate regions, Zelenskyy warned: "Ukraine is being struck by virtually the same attack drones that target the countries of the Middle East and the Gulf region," implying a shared source of the weapons systems.
The Ukrainian leader called urgently for expanded international coordination to confront the growing threat of drone warfare and to develop unified defense architectures capable of countering it at scale.
Zelenskyy, who concluded a high-profile diplomatic tour of Gulf nations this week, secured defense cooperation agreements with both Qatar and Saudi Arabia — deals that analysts say reflect Kyiv's drive to build a broader coalition against shared aerial threats.
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