Damaged buildings in central Moscow’s business district following a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian capital, 30 July 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE / YURI KOCHETKOV
Research carried out by Novaya Gazeta Europe has found that at least 9,700 Ukrainian drones have been used to strike targets in Russia since the start of the war three years ago.
Reached by analysing both announcements by Russia’s Defence Ministry and reports in the Russian press, Novaya Europe’s total is a conservative estimate, mainly as the Defence Ministry does not always publicise drone strikes, and the true number of Ukrainian drones used against Russia is likely to be far higher.
Ukrainian drone strikes have also become increasingly frequent since they began in mid-2023, with an average of 25 drones launched at Russia per day so far this year, almost three times higher than the average daily number in 2024.
Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia have become an almost daily occurrence, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) carried out the largest-scale drone strike to date in the early hours of Tuesday, killing three people and injuring 17 others in Moscow.
Tuesday’s strike, in which 343 drones were intercepted by Russian air defence systems alone, saw several high-rise buildings near Moscow get hit, though Ukrainian drones were also spied flying over Moscow itself.
The Russian Defence Ministry linked the timing of the unprecedented attack to negotiations being held between the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia. “The Kyiv regime struck a massive blow at Russian civilian infrastructure using drones to demonstrate Ukraine’s ability to continue hostilities,” it said.
Massive Russian airstrikes against Ukraine, meanwhile, have become more frequent since late last year. Russia launched an average of 129 drones per day at targets in Ukraine in the first week of March, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The numbers of drones used by Russia in individual attacks began to increase late last year, with the ISW observing that while an average of 80–100 drones were used per attack in October and November, by February that figure had climbed to 139.
