Ukraine strikes back at Russia, launches drone attack on Moscow with more than 400 drones

[Financial News] Ukraine carried out a large-scale air assault, launching more than 400 drones at Russia's capital, Moscow.
According to the Associated Press (AP) on the 20th, local time, the Ukrainian counterstrike came just hours after Russia unleashed ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv and other major cities. Russian city authorities acknowledged the attack.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that more than 400 Ukrainian drones flew toward the capital between the night of the 19th and the early hours of the 20th. He said most were shot down on the outskirts, while 85 were intercepted near Moscow. Moscow Governor Andrey Vorobyov said 10 residents were injured and dozens of apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged.
The aftermath of the attack sparked a fire at the Yuzhnye Vrata industrial complex, about 30 kilometers south of Moscow, said Yevgeniya Khrustaleva, the official in charge of the Domodedovo area. The independent outlet Astra also reported that the Podolsk oil depot, about 20 kilometers south of Moscow, was hit and engulfed in flames, but Russian authorities have not officially confirmed that report.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukrainian forces struck logistics facilities and oil depots in the Moscow region. He added that two Russian so-called ghost fleet vessels used to transport oil in defiance of Western sanctions, as well as four bulk carriers in the Black Sea, were hit.
Meanwhile, in the Shebekino area of Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, a bus carrying passengers was struck by a drone, killing five people, including four women and one boy, and injuring 23 others, acting Governor Alexander Shvayev said. Independent third-party verification of the claims made by both sides has not yet been carried out.
Ukraine's long-range drone technology has evolved significantly over the course of the war, becoming a major headache for Russia, whose vast territory makes complete defense impossible. In particular, Ukraine has targeted Russian oil facilities, causing fuel shortages and delivering a political embarrassment to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In May, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had shot down 1,054 Ukrainian drones in a single day.
As Ukraine appeals to Western governments for advanced interceptor systems to counter Russia's ballistic missiles, which are far harder to intercept than drones or cruise missiles, Russia is sharply increasing its ballistic missile attacks by exploiting weaknesses in Ukraine's air defenses. Ballistic missiles, which fly faster than the speed of sound, can reach Kyiv within minutes of launch, leaving civilians little time to take shelter.
Russia's indiscriminate bombardment killed at least six people and injured dozens across Ukraine the previous day. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said, "The number of ballistic missiles Russia has launched so far in July has already exceeded its monthly missile production," adding, "Russia appears to be drawing on stockpiles to maintain the pace of ballistic missile attacks, which have a higher success rate than drones."

With peace talks aimed at ending Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its fourth year, effectively drifting further away, retaliatory strikes by both sides are intensifying.
Amid the escalating tensions, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would hold a meeting later in the day to address the severe domestic political crisis triggered by last week's cabinet reshuffle. The reshuffle is seen as having brought to the surface deep divisions within the military between the old-guard mainstream and younger reformers over how the war should be fought.
Zelenskyy faces the difficult task of proving to the public that his decision to dismiss 35-year-old Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, while keeping 60-year-old Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was trained in the Soviet military system, will not hinder Ukraine's fight against Russia. In fact, street protests in Ukraine have continued for several days, with citizens backing Fedorov and opposing Syrskyi.

[email protected] Yoon Jae-jun Reporter