Ukraine struck Russia with one of its largest drone attacks of the war on Tuesday, killing a woman in the Moscow area, setting off fires in high-rise buildings and forcing the closure of major airports near the capital, Kremlin officials said.

The Russian ministry of defence said it had shot down 144 Ukrainian drones in multiple regions ranging from the border area near the war zone in southwestern Russia to suburban towns around Moscow, highlighting Ukraine’s growing capability to strike back at Russia with a fleet of domestically made, long-range weapons.

About 20 of the drones were intercepted over the Moscow region, the ministry said. Ukraine typically remains ambiguous about strikes into Russia, and had no immediate comment on Tuesday.

Taking the war to Russia has become a focus of Ukraine’s strategy over the summer, most prominently in a surprise ground incursion into the Kursk region of Russia, capturing more than
804 square kilometres of territory.

At the same time, it has stepped up long-range strikes, even as Russia has repeatedly bombarded Ukraine with missiles and pressed ahead with an offensive in the country’s east.

Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia have hit oil refineries, power plants, airfields and military factories. Ukrainian commentators have said that they are intended to disrupt logistics and provide leverage in possible settlement talks to halt Russian strikes on Ukraine.

The drones on Tuesday flew at least 434km from Ukraine to reach the outskirts of Moscow. The capital has largely been insulated from the war, with most troops recruited from far-flung provinces, while Ukraine’s ground incursion last month came far to the south of the city.

Authorities said a 46-year-old woman in the suburb of Ramenskoye was killed in the strike; it appears to be the first time Russia has publicly announced a death in the Moscow region resulting from a Ukrainian strike.

Witnesses posted scenes of burning buildings and smoke plumes.

Fragments from one intercepted drone fell in the area of Zhukovsky International Airport, which serves Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, the city’s mayor, said on social media.

That airport and two others in the region, Vnukovo and Domodedovo, restricted operations early on Tuesday, according to Artem Korenyako, a representative of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Zhukovsky airport remained shut while the other two were reopened. Russian news agencies reported long lines at check-in counters at the Vnukovo airport.

New York Times News Service