The night of July 20 and the early morning hours marked a time of unprecedented tension for the Russian capital and surrounding territories. Moscow and the Moscow region were subjected to a large-scale attack by unmanned aerial vehicles, triggering air defense systems and causing several major fires.
Air Defense Operations and the Mayor's Figures
The first reports of air defense operations began to emerge in the pre-dawn hours. Starting at 02:53, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin began actively informing residents through his communication channels about the situation in the region. According to him, by 04:05 AM, Russian air defense systems had allegedly shot down 58 drones.
However, the wording in the mayor's publications contains important nuances. In several messages, it was simply stated that drones were shot down, without specifying the phrase "on approach to Moscow." Experts and analysts note that such wording may indicate that some unmanned aircraft managed to breach the defense perimeter and penetrate directly into the capital or its immediate vicinity.
Fires in Podolsk and Evacuation
As the morning approached 4 AM, the situation on the ground began to clarify thanks to footage that OSINT channels started publishing en masse. The video recordings clearly show tongues of flame and plumes of smoke. Preliminary data suggests that an oil depot in the Moscow region town of Podolsk was hit.
The situation quickly worsened: information about a single fire source was replaced by reports of two, and then three fire locations. A large warehouse complex belonging to the Wildberries marketplace was named as a possible target of the attack. Witnesses report that emergency evacuation of personnel began at the facility, which is confirmed by video footage from the scene.
Government and Media Response
During the attack, rocket danger alerts were introduced in some districts of the Moscow region, although these warnings were later canceled. Despite the scale of the incident and obvious visual confirmation of fires, official authorities have not yet provided detailed comments regarding the exact damage and consequences of the attack. RBC-Ukraine, citing Russian Telegram channels, continues to monitor the situation, noting new fire outbreaks as information becomes available.
