Ukraine drones kill four in Russia, Moscow faces biggest attack in over a year

MOSCOW, May 17 (Reuters) – At least four people were killed in a massive Ukrainian drone strike on parts of Russia, including Moscow, which came under the biggest attack in more than a year.

Three people died in the Moscow region and one in the Belgorod region, authorities said Sunday.

Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said that a woman died after a house was hit in Khimki, north of the capital, and rescue teams were looking for another person in the rubble. Two men were killed in the village of Pogorelki in the Mytishchi region. He said many residences and infrastructure facilities were damaged.

TASS, citing Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, reported that air defenses had destroyed ‌81 drones heading towards Moscow since midnight, making it the largest attack on the capital in more than a year.

Sobyanin said 12 people were injured, most of them near the entrance to the Moscow oil refinery, and three houses were damaged. He added that the refinery’s “technology” was not damaged.

The Russian defense ministry said that 556 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down over the country throughout the night and into the morning.

Moscow’s Sheremetyevo, the country’s largest airport, said drone debris fell on its territory without causing any damage.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and William Mallard)