How Ukraine’s drone attacks on Moscow have escalated — a timeline

On June 18, Moscow came under the largest Ukrainian drone attack since the start of the full-scale war: nearly 200 drones struck the capital overnight, and a fire broke out at the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya — the second in two days. Meduza examines how the intensity of Ukrainian attacks on Moscow has grown over the years of the full-scale war. Even by the authorities’ own official statements, it has increased by a factor of roughly one hundred.

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Two drones exploded near the dome of the Senate Palace in the Moscow Kremlin. Russian authorities said air defense forces had shot them down.

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Drones hit three residential buildings — on Atlasova Street, Profsoyuznaya Street, and Leninsky Prospekt. Several more were shot down before reaching the capital.

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Drones struck two non-residential buildings on Komsomolsky Prospekt, one of which is believed to be the headquarters of the GRU hacking group Fancy Bear. There were no casualties.

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Three drones attacked Moscow. One was shot down on approach to the city; the other two damaged a pair of towers at Moscow City.

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Three drones attacked the city again; air defense forces downed two of them over the Moscow region, while the third crashed into one of the Moscow City towers.

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Air defense forces shot down 10 drones on approach to Moscow, Mayor Sobyanin said.

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The Defense Ministry reported two drones shot down over Moscow. A fire broke out at the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya. Five more drones were shot down in the Moscow region on approach to the capital, Sobyanin said.

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Sobyanin reported 74 drones shot down. One damaged the roof of a building on Domodedovskaya Street; debris from another fell in Kapotnya, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff later said the drones had successfully struck the refinery’s production facilities. Moscow region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said 13 cities in the region were hit; three people were killed and 18 injured, according to authorities. A residential building in Ramenskoye caught fire after a drone strike.

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Air defense forces shot down more than 60 drones over the Moscow region in three days, Sobyanin said. Two apartment buildings were hit — one in Zelenograd, one in the settlement of Kiyevsky.

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On March 16, Sobyanin said the city had been under attack for three days straight: air defense forces shot down 54 drones on March 16 alone, and 250 over the three-day period. The Telegram channels Mash and Shot, which are close to the security services, reported sounds of drones and explosions across the Moscow region — in Dubna, Odintsovo, Podolsk, and Korolyov. The full aftermath of the three-day attack remains unknown. Several days before the strikes began, authorities started blocking internet access in Moscow, citing drone-countermeasure efforts as the reason.

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Twenty-two drones were shot down on approach to Moscow on March 20, according to Sobyanin. Another 30 were downed the following day. Authorities didn’t report any damages.

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City authorities reported 120 drones shot down in the preceding 24 hours — 81 of them between midnight and seven in the morning alone. One strike hit the entrance to the oil refinery in Kapotnya, Sobyanin said. Another struck the Elma technology park in Zelenograd. A third hit Sheremetyevo airport. Twelve people were injured, most of them near the refinery entrance, and three buildings were damaged. Moscow region Governor Vorobyov reported three residents of the region killed and four injured.

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Ukrainian drone raids on Moscow continued nearly every day but caused no significant damage. The highest single-day count of drones shot down, according to Sergei Sobyanin’s Telegram channel, was 32, on June 10.

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A major attack. Over the Moscow region, 86 drones were shot down, and six people were injured. All four Moscow airports — Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky — were closed overnight and into the early morning. A fire broke out at the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya, which was reported to have suspended operations.

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Moscow came under the largest Ukrainian drone attack since the start of the war. Nearly 200 drones attacked the capital, and the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya caught fire again. Debris also fell on the grounds of the Sadovod shopping center. In the Moscow region, 17 people were injured; several residential buildings were damaged, a fitness center in Lyubertsy was hit, and the Mega Belaya Dacha shopping center in Kotelniki was also struck.