Russian air defences intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones in a massive overnight attack that killed three people in the Moscow region, authorities said Sunday. The interceptions took place across Russia's 14 regions, as well as the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Issued on: 17/05/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24
A soldier of Ukraine's 127th Separate Territorial Brigade launches a drone on the front line in the Kharkiv region, March 14, 2026.
© Nikoletta Stoyanova, AP
A huge wave of more than 500 Ukrainian drones attacked Russia overnight, killing three people in the Moscow region, authorities said on Sunday.
Air defences shot down 556 drones in more than a dozen regions, including Moscow, Russia's defence ministry said, in one of the largest Ukrainian barrages of the ongoing conflict so far.
These interceptions -- far above the few dozen more often reported -- took place across 14 Russian regions, as well as the Crimean peninsula annexed from Ukraine and the Black and Azov seas, the ministry added, with the region around the capital among the worst-hit.
"A woman was killed as a result of a UAV hitting a private house. One more person is trapped under rubble," the Moscow region's Governor Andrey Vorobyov posted on Telegram, adding that the early morning attack also claimed the lives of two men.
"Since 3 o'clock in the morning, air defence forces have been repelling a large-scale UAV attack on the capital region," he said, adding four people were wounded and infrastructure facilities had been targeted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had vowed on Friday to launch more retaliatory strikes, a day after a Russian attack on Kyiv killed 24 people.
Within Russia's capital, local authorities reported that air defence systems had intercepted more than 80 drones overnight, wounding 12 people.
"Minor damage has been recorded at the sites where debris fell," Mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted on Telegram.
One of the strikes wounded construction workers at a job site near an oil and gas refinery, Sobyanin said.
"Refinery production has not been disrupted. Three residential buildings were damaged," he added.
While the capital region is often subjected to drone attacks, the city of Moscow, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the Ukrainian border, is less frequently targeted.
'Entirely justified'
Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have been at a standstill, with Kyiv unwilling to accept Moscow's maximalist demands for territory in the eastern Donbas region.
While the United States has pushed for both sides to come to the negotiating table, the talks have noticeably stalled since Washington's attention turned to the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February.
After the expiration of a three-day truce on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II -- which both sides accused the other of violating -- Moscow and Kyiv have returned to trading attacks.
In response to daily bombardments by the Russian military for more than four years, Ukraine has regularly struck within Russia.
In the wake of Moscow's latest attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Zelensky insisted that Kyiv's strategy of targeting military and energy sites within Russia, so as to strike at Moscow's ability to finance the war effort, was "entirely justified".
Kyiv's allies have accused Russia of mocking diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
A huge wave of more than 500 Ukrainian drones attacked Russia overnight, killing three people in the Moscow region, authorities said on Sunday.
Air defences shot down 556 drones in more than a dozen regions, including Moscow, Russia's defence ministry said, in one of the largest Ukrainian barrages of the ongoing conflict so far.
These interceptions -- far above the few dozen more often reported -- took place across 14 Russian regions, as well as the Crimean peninsula annexed from Ukraine and the Black and Azov seas, the ministry added, with the region around the capital among the worst-hit.
"A woman was killed as a result of a UAV hitting a private house. One more person is trapped under rubble," the Moscow region's Governor Andrey Vorobyov posted on Telegram, adding that the early morning attack also claimed the lives of two men.
"Since 3 o'clock in the morning, air defence forces have been repelling a large-scale UAV attack on the capital region," he said, adding four people were wounded and infrastructure facilities had been targeted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had vowed on Friday to launch more retaliatory strikes, a day after a Russian attack on Kyiv killed 24 people.
Within Russia's capital, local authorities reported that air defence systems had intercepted more than 80 drones overnight, wounding 12 people.
"Minor damage has been recorded at the sites where debris fell," Mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted on Telegram.
One of the strikes wounded construction workers at a job site near an oil and gas refinery, Sobyanin said.
"Refinery production has not been disrupted. Three residential buildings were damaged," he added.
While the capital region is often subjected to drone attacks, the city of Moscow, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the Ukrainian border, is less frequently targeted.
'Entirely justified'
Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have been at a standstill, with Kyiv unwilling to accept Moscow's maximalist demands for territory in the eastern Donbas region.
While the United States has pushed for both sides to come to the negotiating table, the talks have noticeably stalled since Washington's attention turned to the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February.
After the expiration of a three-day truce on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II -- which both sides accused the other of violating -- Moscow and Kyiv have returned to trading attacks.
In response to daily bombardments by the Russian military for more than four years, Ukraine has regularly struck within Russia.
In the wake of Moscow's latest attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Zelensky insisted that Kyiv's strategy of targeting military and energy sites within Russia, so as to strike at Moscow's ability to finance the war effort, was "entirely justified".
Kyiv's allies have accused Russia of mocking diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
How stray Ukrainian drones pushed Latvia's prime minister to resign
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned Thursday after a key party in her coalition withdrew its support for her sacking of the defence minister after Ukrainian drones repeatedly strayed into the country. Silina had blamed defence minister Andris Spruds for the incursions, saying the country's anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough.
Issued on: 14/05/2026
By: FRANCE 24
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned Thursday after a key party in her coalition withdrew its support for her sacking of the defence minister after Ukrainian drones repeatedly strayed into the country. Silina had blamed defence minister Andris Spruds for the incursions, saying the country's anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough.
Issued on: 14/05/2026
By: FRANCE 24
Latvia's Prime Minister Evika Silina attends a press conference on the day of the Eastern Flank Summit in Helsinki, Finland on December 16, 2025. © Heikki Saukkomaa, Lehtikuva via Reuters
Latvia's centre-right Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned Thursday after a key party in her coalition withdrew support in a row over Ukrainian attack drones that strayed into the Baltic nation.
The drones were on an attack mission across the border in Russia, and Ukraine said they crashed into Latvian territory on May 7 after being electronically diverted by the Russian military. One caused a fire at a disused oil storage site in eastern Latvia.
Silina on Sunday sacked her defence minister Andris Spruds over the affair. She said Latvia's anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough to counter the drone intrusions.
Spruds's sacking prompted nine of his allies, fellow members of the left-wing Progressive party, to quit Silina's ruling coalition, alleging she had made him a scapegoat.
Spruds formally resigned on Monday and Salina proposed a military officer as his replacement, but the Progressive party rejected him.
Their withdrawal left her government with just 41 seats in the 100-seat parliament – and opposition parties said they would call a vote of confidence just five months out from legislative elections.
Drone intrusions
"I am resigning, but I am not giving up," Silina, who has been prime minister since 2023, said in a televised statement.
Silina's government will stay on as caretaker until a replacement is sworn in. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who is tasked by the constitution to select a leader of the government, will meet all parliamentary parties on Friday.
"We are fully aware of the times we are all living in," she added. "The brutal war waged by Russia in Ukraine has changed the security situation throughout Europe."
Several Russian and Ukrainian drones have crashed in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A Ukrainian drone fell in Latvia on March 25.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian ports and energy facilities in the region in recent months.
WATCH MOREEurope’s borders under threat from Russia: Baltic states gear up for war
The drone intrusions have not caused victims but they have exposed weaknesses in the Latvia's air defence system.
Following talks with Rinkevics at a summit in Bucharest on Wednesday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would send experts to Latvia to help with their air defences.
Ukraine would also work with Latvia "to build a multi-layered air defence system against different types of threats", he said.
Rinkevics said a "long-term" air defence accord would be prepared.
Silina came to power at the head of a broad coalition after the resignation of Krisjanis Karins, also from her centre-right Unity party, in August 2023.
In a SKDS/LSM opinion poll last month, Progressives ranked as the second most popular party nationally with 6.9 percent voter approval, ahead of the New Unity alliance – of which Unity is a member – which was sixth with 5.9 percent voter approval.
Opposition Latvia First party topped the poll, with 8.9 percent approval. The poll showed 26.1 percent of voters undecided, with 16.2 percent saying they didn't intend to vote.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
Latvia's centre-right Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned Thursday after a key party in her coalition withdrew support in a row over Ukrainian attack drones that strayed into the Baltic nation.
The drones were on an attack mission across the border in Russia, and Ukraine said they crashed into Latvian territory on May 7 after being electronically diverted by the Russian military. One caused a fire at a disused oil storage site in eastern Latvia.
Silina on Sunday sacked her defence minister Andris Spruds over the affair. She said Latvia's anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough to counter the drone intrusions.
Spruds's sacking prompted nine of his allies, fellow members of the left-wing Progressive party, to quit Silina's ruling coalition, alleging she had made him a scapegoat.
Spruds formally resigned on Monday and Salina proposed a military officer as his replacement, but the Progressive party rejected him.
Their withdrawal left her government with just 41 seats in the 100-seat parliament – and opposition parties said they would call a vote of confidence just five months out from legislative elections.
Drone intrusions
"I am resigning, but I am not giving up," Silina, who has been prime minister since 2023, said in a televised statement.
Silina's government will stay on as caretaker until a replacement is sworn in. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who is tasked by the constitution to select a leader of the government, will meet all parliamentary parties on Friday.
"We are fully aware of the times we are all living in," she added. "The brutal war waged by Russia in Ukraine has changed the security situation throughout Europe."
Several Russian and Ukrainian drones have crashed in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A Ukrainian drone fell in Latvia on March 25.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian ports and energy facilities in the region in recent months.
WATCH MOREEurope’s borders under threat from Russia: Baltic states gear up for war
The drone intrusions have not caused victims but they have exposed weaknesses in the Latvia's air defence system.
Following talks with Rinkevics at a summit in Bucharest on Wednesday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would send experts to Latvia to help with their air defences.
Ukraine would also work with Latvia "to build a multi-layered air defence system against different types of threats", he said.
Rinkevics said a "long-term" air defence accord would be prepared.
Silina came to power at the head of a broad coalition after the resignation of Krisjanis Karins, also from her centre-right Unity party, in August 2023.
In a SKDS/LSM opinion poll last month, Progressives ranked as the second most popular party nationally with 6.9 percent voter approval, ahead of the New Unity alliance – of which Unity is a member – which was sixth with 5.9 percent voter approval.
Opposition Latvia First party topped the poll, with 8.9 percent approval. The poll showed 26.1 percent of voters undecided, with 16.2 percent saying they didn't intend to vote.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
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