Russia Says Ukraine Unleashed a Record Drone Wave—1,671 UAVs in a Single Day

Ukraine appears to have set another record for the scale of its drone attacks on Russia, with Moscow claiming that its air defenses shot down 1,671 UAVs in just 24 hours, according to figures reported by Russian media outlet Interfax on August 18.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that air defenses intercepted more than 1,600 drones over the past day, along with 10 guided aerial bombs and two HIMARS rockets, Russian propaganda outlet Interfax reported.

Another Russian propaganda outlet, RIA Novosti, described the attack as the largest of its kind to date.

“Air defenses shot down 1,671 drones over Russia during the past 24 hours—an absolute record,” the Russian report said.

If accurate, the latest total would surpass a record Moscow itself claimed only two days earlier. During the August 16 attack on Russia, Russian authorities said their forces had “shot down 1,478 drones” within 24 hours.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed that 620 UAVs were headed toward the Moscow region between Monday evening and 5 am Tuesday. Of those, he said 180 were supposedly destroyed within the region.

The overnight attack also hit a Wildberries warehouse in the Moscow region, triggering a fire. Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed the incident and described the attack as “massive,” while claiming that 150 drones had been shot down over the region.

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The drone wave also caused significant disruption to civilian aviation around the Russian capital. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency imposed temporary restrictions on arrivals and departures at all four major Moscow-area airports—Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky, and Sheremetyevo.

The scale of Moscow’s own claims points to another dramatic expansion in Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign. Russia’s reported record rose from 1,478 drones on August 16 to 1,671 just two days later, while hundreds of UAVs were reportedly directed toward the capital region alone.

Previously, reports emerged that Ukrainian strikes put seven of the ten largest logistics centers operated by Russian e-commerce company Wildberries out of operation.

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