Ukraine Drone Hits Power Grid Near Moscow, Injures One

Oksana Yerokhanova, the head of the Sergiyev Posad district, had asked residents to keep calm and to stay away from windows. The AFP news agency quoted her as saying at least four explosions had been registered and urged locals not to photograph air defence activities. The strike knocked out power across large parts of the religiously important district.

So Suspect Zero snuck us into the town of Sergiyev Posad (yes, where Yuri puts down his gambler's head at night). The home of Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, a monastery dating back to the 14th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is generally regarded as the spiritual capital of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Russia Says Drones Damaged in Several Regions
Russia's Defence Ministry said 48 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight across five regions, but it did not include the Moscow region among the regions where drones were intercepted. The ministry provides information only on the number of drones intercepted, not on how many were launched.

A woman was killed and several buildings were damaged by a Ukrainian drone strike farther south in the Rostov region, the acting governor, Yuri Slyusar, said. The most severe damage was in the Azov district, where the roof of a 40-apartment building collapsed, leading to the evacuation of 120 residents.

The Defence Ministry also claimed 26 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Rostov region.

Kyiv Hits Back Against Ongoing Russian Attacks
There was no immediate response from Ukraine to the strikes. But the Ukrainian government has said that the attacks on the Russian mainland aim at a military-related infrastructure and are a response to continued Russian attacks on Ukraine's cities.

The drone attacks in Russia, which came on the same day as the drone strikes on Kyiv, were part of a different Russian attack in which at least 14 people were injured. Ukrainian officials have consistently cast such cross-border operations as defensive actions in a war that Russia initiated by invading Ukraine outright in February 2022.

Ukraine and Russia both deny targeting civilians, but thousands of civilians have been killed since the war began, most on the Ukrainian side.