KYIV, Ukraine — Drone strikes targeted Moscow and its surrounding areas overnight into Sunday, resulting in injuries to several individuals and causing temporary disruptions to traffic at some of Russia’s busiest airports, according to officials. Meanwhile, a significant nighttime wave of Russian drones launched attacks on Ukraine.
This occurred after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact with North Korea on Saturday evening, binding the two countries to offer immediate military assistance using “all means” in the event of an attack on either nation. The agreement represents the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War.
Earlier this week, Ukraine reported that its military engaged with North Korean units for the first time. U.S. officials had previously confirmed the deployment of at least 3,000 North Korean troops to Russia, while Kyiv has consistently maintained that the number is significantly higher. This has raised concerns about a substantial escalation in Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the potential for tensions to spread to the Asia-Pacific region.
U.K. estimates Russian troop losses at 700,000
Both Moscow and Kyiv have been tight-lipped about casualty figures since the full-scale war began, despite frequent reports of substantial losses suffered by Russian forces following “human wave” attacks aimed at overwhelming Ukrainian defenses.
However, the head of the U.K. defense staff, Tony Radakin, informed the BBC that Russian forces experienced their most severe month of casualties in October since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He stated that Moscow’s troops sustained an average of 1,500 fatalities and injuries per day, bringing their total losses in the war to 700,000.
According to Radakin, ordinary Russians are paying “an extraordinary price” for the war, even as a grueling, multi-month Russian offensive in Ukraine’s industrial east continues to make incremental gains. He did not disclose the methodology used by U.K. officials to calculate the Russian casualty figures.
“There is no doubt that Russia is making tactical, territorial gains and that is putting pressure on Ukraine,” he said. But he added that they were “tiny increments of land,” and Moscow’s mounting defense and security spending was putting an increasing strain on the country.
Radakin emphasized the importance of Ukraine’s Western partners standing by it for “as long as it takes” to repel Russian aggression, even as allies of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump have hinted that Kyiv may need to cede territory to pursue peace.
Russia is cautiously optimistic about Trump’s forthcoming presidency
On Sunday, the Kremlin’s official spokesperson expressed cautious optimism about Trump’s upcoming presidency, stating: “At least he talks about peace. … He does not talk about confrontation.”
“The signals are positive. Trump, during his election campaign, said that he perceives everything through deals, that he can make deals that will lead everyone toward peace,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a briefing.
“He does not talk about a desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, and this favorably distinguishes him from the current (U.S.) administration,” Peskov said.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday insisted that “strong decisions” from Kyiv’s Western partners are necessary to halt the “terror” of Russian drone and missile strikes, and ensure “reliable peace” for Ukraine.
“The killing of children, the loss of family members cannot simply be forgotten,” Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
“Without strong decisions, there is no security from terror, and this is equally clear in every country. There is no reliable peace without justice,” he said.
Continuing fighting causes damage and casualties on both sides
Intense fighting has continued near the eastern Ukrainian cities of Toretsk and Kurakhove, Ukraine’s General Staff reported Sunday. Between 700 and 1,000 residents remain in Kurakhove, a front-line city encircled on three sides and significantly damaged. Most of them reside underground without access to running water, heating, or electricity.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that a total of 84 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight in Russian territory, following what it described as a “mass strike on civilian infrastructure.” A man died after drones struck his apartment building in Russia’s Belgorod region, just kilometers from the Ukrainian border, according to local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Five other individuals were injured in the Moscow suburb of Ramenskoe and a nearby village, according to local officials. Russian channels on the messaging app Telegram carried eyewitness reports of drone debris igniting fires in suburban homes.
Russia’s aviation authority reported that flights were briefly suspended at major international airports, including Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo. At least 14 flights bound for Moscow were rerouted to Nizhnyi Novgorod, a city over 490 kilometers (300 miles) east, airport representatives there reported.
Ukraine’s General Staff asserted on Sunday that Ukrainian drones caused a fire at an arms depot in Russia’s southern Bryansk region, near Ukraine and Belarus. The online update included a photo showing thick plumes of reddish smoke rising into the night sky. The AP could not verify the circumstances of the photo, and there was no immediate response from Russia.
Separately, Russia’s emergencies ministry on Sunday announced a major fire at a warehouse outside of Moscow. There were no immediate reports of casualties, and it was unclear whether the blaze was connected to the Ukrainian drone strikes.
Russia launched a “record” 145 drones at Ukrainian territory overnight, according to Ukraine’s air force, 62 of which were shot down. Another 67 were “lost,” the air force said, likely referring to electronic jamming that caused the drones to deviate from their intended courses.
At least one person was injured as Russian drones targeted residential areas in Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa, local Gov. Oleh Kiper reported. And at least five civilians, including a 17-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy, were injured by falling drone debris and shelling in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region on Sunday, according to its Gov. Oleh Syniehubov and local prosecutors.
Russia later on Sunday claimed that it had struck a large deployment of Ukrainian soldiers in the Kharkiv province with thermobaric rockets, but did not immediately provide evidence.
