Ukraine launched one of its largest long-range drone barrages of the war overnight, with Russia’s defence ministry claiming its air defences intercepted or destroyed 419 unmanned aerial vehicles across 19 regions, including the Moscow area. The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said a six-month-old infant died after a drone struck a private house in Yegoryevsk, south-east of the capital, and three other people were hospitalised. In a separate statement, Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, reported that 61 drones were downed on approach to the city. The attack came days after Russia said it had shot down 660 Ukrainian drones in a single 24-hour period, one of the highest figures recorded since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces had struck the Dubna space communications centre in the Moscow region for the second time in just over a week. In a post on social media, he described the facility, located more than 500 kilometres from Ukraine’s border, as a ‘special satellite communications facility used, in particular, for reconnaissance and for coordinating the activity of Russia’s occupation contingent in Ukraine.’ Zelensky added that four similar centres in the Moscow and Vladimir regions had been hit recently and that ‘relevant actions are also being prepared against other similar enemy facilities.’ The Kremlin, through spokesman Dmitry Peskov, accused Kyiv of deliberately targeting civilians, saying ‘civilians are suffering, children are dying,’ and called on the international community to take note of what it termed criminal acts.

The intensification of Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign, which Kyiv frames as ‘long-range sanctions,’ has increasingly focused on military command-and-control nodes and energy infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time on Monday that the strikes on oil refineries had created a ‘certain deficit’ of fuel, leading to shortages and rationing in some regions. Ukrainian officials have said the 40-day pressure operation, announced by Zelensky last week, is designed to force Moscow to end the war by disrupting the logistics and revenue streams that sustain its offensive. The Dubna facility, according to Ukrainian military statements, is used to gather intelligence and coordinate Russian forces operating in occupied Ukrainian territory.

The war, now in its fifth year, has seen both sides escalate long-range attacks far from the front lines. Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw from the four regions it claims to have annexed and abandon its NATO aspirations, while Kyiv insists on a full Russian withdrawal and security guarantees. Diplomatic channels remain blocked, with no formal peace talks under way. Ukraine’s general staff has signalled that further strikes on Russian satellite communications and other military infrastructure are planned, while the Russian defence ministry has pledged to reinforce air defences around critical sites. The next phase of the campaign is expected to test the resilience of both Russia’s domestic front and its military command structure.