Ukraine aims a drone blitz at Moscow as Russian missiles kill 10 in a Ukrainian village
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- Ukraine fired almost 800 drones at Russia on August 18, 2026, in its second-largest drone attack since January 2025, with Russia's Defense Ministry saying 791 were intercepted across Russian regions, annexed Crimea, and the Black and Azov seas.
- Russia struck the village of Pechenihy in Kharkiv region with a missile that killed 10 civilians and wounded 17, damaging 10 homes, a cafe, a post office, a store, and at least seven vehicles, prompting Zelenskyy to call it "a brutal attack" and vow retaliation.
- More than 600 Ukrainian drones targeted the Moscow region, where 180 were shot down and three people were wounded, while the overnight attack also ignited a fire at a Wildberries warehouse — a depot Ukraine has repeatedly targeted for allegedly supplying the Russian military.
- Russian state television channels Russia 1 and Channel One did not mention the Ukrainian drone attack in their morning news bulletins, though state news agency RIA Novosti described it as "one of the most large-scale attacks on Moscow since the beginning of the summer."
- The UK Defence Ministry vowed to continue military support for Kyiv after Russia's embassy warned of "consequences" following a Sunday Times report that two British companies made drones used in strikes on Russian soil.
- Three more people were killed and three wounded in Russian attacks on Ukraine's Sumy region over the past day, including drone strikes and an explosive device blast, according to Ukraine's National Police.
Why it matters: With the 1,250-kilometre front line deadlocked and analysts saying neither side is making significant battlefield progress, Ukraine's 800-drone salvo — the second-largest since January 2025 — marks a sharp escalation in its stated strategy of overwhelming Russian air defenses to pressure the Russian public and force Putin to negotiate. That leverage strategy so far hasn't worked: Putin "has so far shown no sign he intends to stop the invasion," while the UK now faces explicit Russian threats over its reported drone role.
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