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Russia's air defenses down over a dozen Ukrainian drones heading to Moscow

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 19 July 2025 7:03 AM

Russian air defenses have destroyed more than a dozen incoming Ukrainian drones approaching the capital city of Moscow overnight.

Moscow's Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Saturday that Russian air defense units intercepted 13 drones flying towards Moscow in less than two hours. He has been reporting similar nightly raids since Wednesday.

Russia's Defense Ministry said more than 150 interceptions had been carried out across multiple regions.

The ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces' attacks spread across several areas, including the Bryansk, Oryol, Kaluga, Rostov, Tula, Kursk, Smolensk, Voronezh, and Moscow regions, with at least 158 projectiles downed since 6:15 pm Friday.

According to Sobyanin, there were no reports of casualties or damage, with emergency crews responding to the crash sites.

Ukrainian forces had intensified attempted drone attacks on Moscow over the past week, according to Sobyanin.

The mayor told reporters last month that the city's air defense systems operate at the "highest level," intercepting 99.9 percent of targets.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained that Russia used multi-layered air defense systems to minimize the threat posed by drone attacks.

Ukraine has been conducting UAV raids deep into Russian territory for months, often striking residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. The Russian government describes Ukraine's strikes as "terrorist attacks" deliberately targeting civilians.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned last week that Western European leaders are leading themselves into war against Moscow.

European leaders' words and actions point to the fact that they are in favor of war against Russia.

Since February 2022, the US-led Western countries have flooded Ukraine with weapons and ammunition to arm the Kiev forces fighting against Russia.