Ukraine Aims Drone Blitz at Moscow     08/18 06:21

   

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukrainian forces staged one of their biggest drone 
attacks on Russia since Moscow's invasion more than four years ago, firing 
almost 800 drones just two days after launching a similar salvo, officials said 
Tuesday.

   Meanwhile, a Russian missile strike on a village in Ukraine's northeastern 
Kharkiv region killed at least 10 people and wounded eight others as the 
barrage demolished homes, officials said Tuesday.

   The warring countries are locked in an escalating duel of long-range aerial 
strikes. Fighting on the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in 
eastern and southern Ukraine is restricted by large numbers of drones and 
ground robots threatening troop movements, and neither side is making 
significant battlefield progress, analysts say.

   Russia's Putin resists pressure for peace talks

   Over the past year Ukraine has devised and deployed domestically produced 
long-range drones for strikes deep inside Russia. Its drone technology has 
impressed governments and defense manufacturers around the world.

   Kyiv officials aim to make the Russian public feel the war's consequences 
and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiating a peace 
settlement. Putin has so far shown no sign he intends to stop the invasion.

   "Putin continues to drag out the war instead of accepting Ukraine's 
realistic ceasefire proposals and ending the bloodshed," Ukrainian Foreign 
Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.

   Russian air defenses overnight intercepted 791 Ukrainian drones over a 
number of Russian regions, as well as annexed Crimea and the Black and the Azov 
seas, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said, in what was the second-largest drone 
attack since January 2025, according to an Associated Press tally.

   More than 600 Ukrainian drones flew toward the Moscow region, where 180 were 
shot down, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. He didn't provide further details.

   Officials reported no deaths or major damage. Ukraine has increasingly 
launched swarms of hundreds of drones in an attempt to overwhelm Russian air 
defenses.

   In the Moscow region that surrounds but doesn't include the Russian capital, 
three people were wounded, Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said.

   Three people were also wounded in the Ryazan region adjacent to the Moscow 
region where three private houses were damaged by the attack, Gov. Pavel Malkov 
said.

   The overnight attack started a fire at a warehouse of Wildberries, Russia's 
biggest online retailer, in an industrial zone. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted 
the company's depots, which it says help supply the Russian military.

   Wildberries said its facility sustained "insignificant damage."

   Russian TV doesn't report news of the attack

   Coverage of the attack in state and Kremlin-backed Russian media was mostly 
muted, as is often the case.

   Russia's main television channels -- state-run Russia 1 and Channel One -- 
did not mention the attack at all in their morning news bulletins.

   But Russian state news agency RIA Novosti featured it among the main news on 
its website's homepage, describing it as "one of the most large-scale attacks 
on Moscow since the beginning of the summer."

   State newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on its website prominently featured a 
roundup of what Moscow region Gov. Andrei Vorobyov reported about the attack on 
the area, describing it as "massive" in the headline. Pro-Kremlin tabloid MK 
featured a news brief about the attack on its home page.

   Ukraine's Zelenskyy accuses Russia of a 'brutal attac k' on civilians

   A Russian missile strike on the village of Pechenihy in Ukraine's Kharkiv 
region killed 10 civilians, according to preliminary information, said Oleh 
Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.

   Another 17 people were wounded, he said. Zelenskyy called it "a brutal 
attack" that damaged 10 homes, a cafe, a post office, a store and at least 
seven vehicles, according to Syniehubov.

   "We will definitely respond to this Russian strike," Zelenskyy said on 
social media.

   Also, three people were killed and three others were wounded over the past 
day in Russian attacks on Ukraine's Sumy region, including drone strikes and an 
explosive device blast, Ukraine's National Police said.

   UK vows continued Ukraine support, despite Moscow's threats

   The U.K. Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it won't budge from its military 
support for Kyiv, after Russia said that Ukraine's reported use of British 
drones for attacks on Russian soil would bring unidentified consequences for 
London.

   "Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, and we are committed to 
providing the equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself against Putin's illegal 
invasion," a British defense spokesperson said.

   British newspaper The Sunday Times reported that two U.K. companies made 
drones used by Ukraine to hit Russia.

   Following the report, the Russian embassy in the U.K. said in a statement 
that "London's actions will inevitably carry consequences."