Moscow Drone Barrage Hits New High as Russia Reports Death of Nuclear Plant Worker

Russian officials said Ukraine launched one of the war’s largest drone assaults against the Moscow region, eclipsing the previous night’s attack, while authorities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant accused Kyiv of carrying out a separate strike that killed an employee on his way to work

The war’s expanding reach was visible on two fronts overnight, with Russian authorities reporting an unprecedented wave of Ukrainian drones aimed at the Moscow region and, separately, the death of a worker linked to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in what Moscow described as another attack on critical civilian infrastructure.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 862 drones were launched toward the wider Moscow region during the night, making it one of the largest reported attacks against the Russian capital since the start of the year. According to Sobyanin, Russian air defenses intercepted large numbers of the drones far from the city, while another 170 were destroyed as they approached Moscow itself.

The scale of the assault surpassed the previous night’s attack, when Russian authorities said 613 drones had been directed toward the capital. The back-to-back operations underscored the growing intensity of long-range drone warfare, a defining feature of a conflict that increasingly extends well beyond traditional front lines.

The latest strike coincided with the Russia-Africa summit, a high-profile diplomatic event taking place in Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized the timing of the attack, calling it “strange” that Kyiv would seek to target the city while the gathering was underway.

While attention focused on the skies over Moscow, Russian authorities also reported a fatal incident near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. According to a statement cited by the state news agency Tass and published on Telegram by the facility’s operator, a welder employed at the plant was killed in a drone attack while traveling to work on an electric scooter.

The statement described the strike as a deliberate attack against a civilian employee and accused Ukrainian forces of targeting personnel connected to the nuclear facility.

“This is barbaric. A hunt for civilians, a hunt for nuclear industry workers,” the company said, adding that it regarded the incident as another intentional attack on staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The operator said the International Atomic Energy Agency had been informed of the incident.

Taken together, the reported mass drone offensive against the Russian capital and the fatal strike involving a worker at the Zaporizhzhia facility highlighted how the conflict continues to affect not only military targets but also strategic infrastructure, major urban centers and individuals far from the battlefield.

(Photo: © AndKronos)