Russia downs record total of Ukrainian drones amid summit

Greg Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Oct 29, 2026

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Russia said its air defenses intercepted more than 1,200 Ukrainian drones overnight, the highest reported total to date, while President Vladimir Putin holds a summit with leaders from Africa.

Russian forces downed 1,214 drones over 19 regions, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said Thursday in a Telegram statement. It said drones were intercepted over Moscow region and as far away as the Russian republics of Bashkortostan and Udmurtia, which are well over 1,000 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Russia on Sept. 20 said it intercepted 1,110 drones overnight, which was the previous record high.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 231 unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed on approach to the capital. Drone debris fell on a plant in Sterlitamak in the Bashkortostan region causing minor damage, though the facility continued to work as usual, the city’s mayor said, according to the Interfax news service.

Putin is meeting with heads of states from more than 20 countries who are in Moscow for the third Russia-Africa forum that continued Thursday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “strange to organize such a massive drone attack” on the city when a global event was taking place, but that air defense systems worked effectively, the Interfax news service reported.

The war that’s now well into its fifth year has continued to escalate amid U.S.-led efforts to revive negotiations that have stalled since the conflict in the Middle East started in February. Russia is bombarding Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure with drone and missile attacks while Ukraine has targeted logistics and oil refineries.

As part of Washington’s push to restart talks between Ukraine and Russia, Putin met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg last week. That led to an agreement to hold trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. in the United Arab Emirates next month, though an exact date has yet to be set.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 112 drones overnight, including 40 jet-powered craft., with defenses intercepting 97 of them.