Ukraine-Russia war: Moscow claims over 3,000 drones destroyed amid major attack

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow says it destroyed more than 3,000 Kyiv drones as it faces biggest attack of the year

Ukraine’s drone attack comes after Russian missile strikes killed dozens of people in Kyiv last week

At least four people were killed, and a dozen were injured, after a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia overnight, local officials said on Sunday.

Three people were killed in a strike on the Moscow region, and a fourth was killed in the Belgorod region bordering northeastern Ukraine, local authorities said.

Russia's defence ministry said by midday more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones had been downed over the country in the past 24 hours.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensk confirmed the attacks on social media site X, said, "Our ⁠responses to Russia’s prolongation of the war and its attacks on our cities ​and communities ⁠are entirely justified," Zelenskiy said.

Later on Sunday, Zelensky said that Ukraine's "long-range sanctions have reached the Moscow region", referring to the latest drone attack.

"We are clearly telling the Russians: their state must end its war," he wrote in a post on Telegram.

The drone attacks come after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed a response to a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Kyiv on Friday that killed 24, including three children.

Russia says it destroyed over 3,000 Ukrainian drones last week

Russia has intercepted and destroyed at least 3,124 Ukrainian drones over the past week, the RIA state news agency said, citing data from the defence ministry.

RIA, after compiling ⁠the data, said the ​most ⁠drones were downed ‌on 13 May and 17 May ‌with 572 and ‌1,054 units destroyed, respectively, mostly over European ⁠Russia.

At least four people were killed, including three in the Moscow region, after Ukraine launched its biggest ‌overnight drone attack on ​the Russian ‌capital in ⁠more than a ⁠year, local officials said ‌on ​Sunday.

Arpan Rai18 May 2026 04:06

In pictures: Ukraine and Russia prisoner of war swap

Rebecca Thomas18 May 2026 04:00

US Treasury allows sanctions waiver on Russian seaborne oil to lapse

The Trump administration on Saturday allowed a sanctions waiver to lapse that had previously allowed countries, including India, to buy Russian seaborne oil after a month-long extension aimed at easing oil supply shortages and high prices due to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had previously said he would not renew the general license allowing the purchase of Russian oil stored on tankers. As of early afternoon Washington time ⁠on Saturday, no renewal notice had ​been ⁠posted on the Treasury website. A Treasury spokesperson declined further comment.

Two top Democratic U.S. senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth ⁠Warren, on Friday urged the Trump administration against renewing the waiver, ​arguing ⁠that it was providing revenue to ‌Russia to aid its war in Ukraine, but there was no evidence it was bringing down fuel costs for American consumers.

The prior extension was part of the ‌Trump administration's effort to control global energy prices that have shot higher during the Iran war.

Rebecca Thomas18 May 2026 02:30

The Ukrainian flag has been removed from outside Essex County Council's offices by the newly elected Reform UK administration, according to reports by the BBC.

A second Union flag was instead put up in its place outside County Hall in Chelmsford on Friday.

Council leader Peter Harris said in a statement to the BBC that it was a "proud moment".

Harris said: "The replacement of the Ukraine flag does not diminish the support and generosity that Essex residents have shown the people of Ukraine since 2022, and I know this will continue."

A spokesman said there would be discussions with the county's Ukrainian community before finding the flag a new home.

Rebecca Thomas18 May 2026 01:30

Pictures showing the aftermath of Russia’s strike in Kyiv that killed 24 people.

Rebecca Thomas17 May 2026 23:30

Russia says prison population falls as convicts sent to fight Putin's war in Ukraine

Russia is witnessing a decrease in its population inside prison, with a drop of more than 180,000 people, in the past five years, the country’s prison chief said.

"If at the end of 2021 there were 465,000 (prisoners), then now there are 282,000," said Arkady Gostev, the head of Russia's penitentiary service.

Around 85,000 of the current prison population is held in pre-trial detention, he told TASS state news agency.

Gostev said the major decline in the prison population was partly driven by the army's recruitment drive, but also due to more suspended sentences and other forms of punishment handed out.

Moscow has regularly relied on recruiting its prisoners in exchange for buying out their sentences and sent them on the Ukraine frontline, but experts flagged that their lack of military and battlefield knowledge made them vulnerable to killings.

Rebecca Thomas17 May 2026 22:30

Video: Moment of explosion at apartment building in Russia during drone attack

Rebecca Thomas17 May 2026 20:30

Putin to visit Chinese leader Xi Jinping days after Trump's trip to Beijing

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a two-day trip to Beijing next week, the Kremlin said Saturday.

The announcement comes less than 24 hours after U.S. President Donald Trump finished his own state visit to China, where he also met Xi to discuss trade and the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran.

In a statement, the Kremlin said that Putin’s trip, planned for May 19-20, had been scheduled to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship.

It said that the two leaders would discuss bilateral relations as well as “key international and regional issues” and economic cooperation.

Rebecca Thomas17 May 2026 19:30

The young woman killed in Russian strike that killed 24 people

A young woman, Maryna Homeniuk, who died in the Russian strike on Ukraine, which killed 24 people, was a sensitive soul who took in abandoned animals, her friends told reporters.

She died with her partner Yurii Orlov, who captained the Kyiv Floorball Club after playing hockey for teams in the Ukrainian capital.

Rebecca Thomas17 May 2026 18:30

Pride march Odessa Ukraine meets anti-protestors

Amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, a Pride March was held, organized by the LGBTQ+ community, in Odesa.

The march was met with protestors shouting slogans denouncing the march.

Rebecca Thomas17 May 2026 17:30