548 Drones Target Moscow Region in One of Largest Attacks in Two Years, Russia Says

Russia reported one of its largest drone attacks on the Moscow region in two years, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announcing on September 3 that 548 UAVs had been directed toward the capital region between 8:00 a.m. on September 2 and noon on September 3, according to Russian state media outlets TASS and Interfax.

Interfax reported Sobyanin's statement in full, which was published at 12:22 p.m. on September 3. TASS characterized the attack in a separate post as one of the largest in the Moscow region over the past two years.

"Between September 2 at 08:00 and September 3 at 12:00, 548 UAVs flew toward the Moscow region," Sobyanin wrote in his channel on the Max messenger. "The majority were destroyed at distant frontiers. 143 drones were destroyed on the approach to Moscow."

The figures emerged from a series of incremental updates published through the night and into the morning of September 3. Interfax reported that Sobyanin initially announced 10 drones shot down on approach to Moscow, a figure that later climbed to 27, then 37, then 86, before the final midday tally reached 143.

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Russian authorities offered no independent breakdown of drone types, flight paths, or intercept locations to allow the claims to be independently verified.

The 143 drones destroyed near Moscow represent roughly one in four of the total figure claimed for the entire region; Russian officials stated only that the remainder were eliminated "at distant frontiers," without further detail.

The attack also disrupted civilian aviation. Russia's federal aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, reported operational changes at Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports, according to Fontanka and Regions.ru, with potential knock-on effects on flight schedules across all three facilities

Vedomosti also confirmed the disruptions, citing Sobyanin's statements on air defense activity.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned international airlines, insurers, and aviation operators that Russian airspace was becoming increasingly unsafe because of drone activity linked to the war.

He argued that Moscow’s failure to properly notify carriers about aerial hazards was effectively closing its own skies, stating that “the Russian sky will de facto be closed.”

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