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Saturday, May 16, 2026

Drone Attacks Target Russian Infrastructure Amid Ongoing Conflict

Drone Attacks Target Russian Infrastructure Amid Ongoing Conflict

Oil refinery near Moscow and several Russian regions hit in mass drone strike; Russian air defenses report widespread interceptions.
An oil refinery located 120 miles southeast of Moscow in Ryazan was one of the strategic sites targeted in a mass drone attack, reportedly carried out by Ukraine.

The assault also targeted a microelectronics production facility in Bryansk, western Russia, suggesting a focus on locations supplying the Russian military.

According to Pavel Malkov, the governor of the Ryazan region, emergency services were responding to the aftermath of the attack, which allegedly involved 20 drones.

Social media accounts shared footage purporting to show the incident.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence reported that its air defenses had repelled a substantial overnight drone assault launched by Ukraine, intercepting and destroying a total of 121 drones across 13 regions, including the capital, Moscow.

Specifically, the defense ministry stated that six drones were downed in the Moscow region, with another destroyed within the city itself.

The Ryazan region endured a targeted strike by 20 drones as reports emerged of a fire at the oil facility.

On the Ukrainian front, the country's air force reported successfully countering a Russian drone barrage, downing 25 of 58 drones launched in an overnight operation.

Ukraine's interior ministry confirmed that debris from drones resulted in the deaths of two men and a woman in central Kyiv, alongside one reported injury.

With an escalation in drone warfare, Ukrainian officials have noted that Russian forces have deployed over 7,000 drones in 2024, more than double the count from the previous year.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that Ukrainian drones were intercepted at four different locations around the Russian capital.

Air defenses in the southeast regions of Kolomna and Ramenskoye reportedly neutralized several drones, while defenses in Podolsk successfully downed two additional drones aimed at Moscow.

He also confirmed the downing of a drone each in Troitsky, southwest of Moscow, and Shchyolkovo to the northeast.

The federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya, stated that Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports in Moscow resumed operations after temporarily halting flights due to the drone threats.

Elsewhere, in the city of Kursk, Mayor Igor Kutsak reported damage to power lines from overnight attacks, resulting in power outages in one district.

The Russian Defence Ministry also confirmed the destruction of drones over the Bryansk and Belgorod border regions, the Russian-annexed Crimea, and the regions of Saratov, Rostov, Voronezh, Tula, Oryol, and Lipetsk.
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