July 18, 2026, 2:14 p.mJuly 18, 2026, 2:14 p.m
According to authorities, at least eight people have been killed and dozens more injured in Ukrainian drone strikes in Russia. Seven people died in the Tambov region, Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said on Telegram. There are also 25 injured. The victims were employees of a distribution center for the Russian online mail order company Wildberries. The city of Kotovsk that was hit is around 500 kilometers southeast of the capital Moscow.
Ukrainian artillery unit.Image: www.imago-images.de
According to authorities, there was also at least one death and dozens of injuries in the Moscow region as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes. The Investigative Committee accused the Ukrainian armed forces of terrorist attacks against civilian facilities. The authority initiated criminal proceedings.
Another camp hit
A Wildberries warehouse in the Moscow region was also hit, the company said. In the town of Elektrostal – around 50 kilometers east of Moscow – 37 people were injured, some seriously, said Governor Andrei Vorobyov. One injured person died there. Debris from a downed drone also hit a kindergarten, said Vorobyov, who published a photo of the damaged building. A fire there was put out and no one was injured.
In the area around the capital, a fire also broke out in the city of Noginsk on the site of an oil depot, Vorobyov said. A maternity hospital there was also evacuated for safety reasons. The women were accommodated in other medical facilities, the governor said. An apartment block in Noginsk was also evacuated. According to Vorobyov, there were also two injured people in the city.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that a total of 1,892 Ukrainian drones flew towards the Russian capital between Friday evening (8:30 p.m. local time) and Saturday morning (8:30 a.m.). Most were shot down. The information could not be independently verified.
Zelenskyj: Strikes are response to Russian attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj once again published a video on Telegram showing columns of black smoke in the blue sky – as well as a flying drone and fire. The two important logistics centers in the Moscow and Tambov areas, 500 and 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian front line, were hit, he said. Components for drones and navigation equipment subject to Western sanctions were stored in the centers, he claimed.
The attacks were a response to Russian attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure, Zelensky said. The drone units also attacked Russian ships in the Black Sea and the neighboring Sea of Azov. Zelensky thanked the armed forces and intelligence services for the “accurate and coordinated execution of the tasks.”
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression with Western help for more than four years. Kyiv primarily uses drones to counterattack Russian targets. (sda/dpa)
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