Around 4,000 Ukrainian drone strikes recorded on Russian territory in 2025

Around 8,300 war-related incidents have been recorded on Russian territory since the start of 2025, according to an investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe.

Ukrainian drone strikes that were not intercepted accounted for almost half of the total, with about 4,000 attacks recorded, or 48%. A further 41% — around 3,400 incidents — involved the downing or interception of military objects by air defences.

Missile and artillery strikes made up only 3% of the total, or around 250 incidents, while ground-launched attacks — namely during Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region — accounted for around 7%, or 560 cases.

The number of missile attacks and aerial bombings fell by over two thirds, while marine military activity was halved. This reduction in attacks began in March when Kyiv’s Western allies significantly reduced aid.

Ukraine’s ground operations on Russian territory have almost completely ceased since March, with Russian forces regaining control of the Kursk region around the same time. 

However, the number of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory grew by at least a third compared with the previous year. The number of downed or intercepted drones also rose sharply, increasing by 52% compared to 2024. 

Around 11 drones either crashed or struck targets each day on average in 2025, while Russian air defences took down drones around nine times a day. Drone attacks have not just focused on southern Russia, where many Russian oil refineries are located, but have also targeted sites as far away as Siberia, with drones damaging an oil refinery in the Tyumen region of western Siberia on 6 October, for example.

According to the investigation, drone strikes made up more than four times the number of all other types of attacks combined this year. Injuries were reported in 34% of drone attacks that weren’t intercepted, a figure that remains largely unchanged from last year.