Russian air defense forces intercept 59 drones near Moscow during overnight strike

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AKIPRESS.COM – Russian air defense forces shot down 59 Ukrainian drones on their approach to Moscow overnight on June 22, according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.

Local authorities began reporting the shootdowns at 3:02 AM Moscow time, with the final drone intercepted at 5:07 AM.

While Sobyanin did not disclose any immediate casualties or damage from the debris, the capital region’s major airports—Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky—were forced to temporarily suspend flight operations before reopening later in the morning.

The assault on Moscow was part of a broader, massive wave of attacks, with the Russian Ministry of Defense claiming a total of 301 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight across more than a dozen regions, including Belgorod, Kursk, Rostov, and Crimea.

This latest escalation follows a record-setting attack on June 18, when nearly 200 drones targeted the Moscow region, striking an oil refinery in Kapotnya, killing one person, and injuring 17 others.