On Tuesday, Ukraine announced it had successfully targeted one of Russia’s primary satellite communication centers for the second time in just over a week. Kyiv has been intensifying its campaign of long-range drone strikes in an attempt to coerce the Kremlin into halting its four-year-old conflict.
President Volodymyr Zelensky identified the Dubna Satellite Communications Centre, located roughly 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the Ukrainian border to the north of Moscow, as a critical facility used for intelligence gathering and the coordination of Russian military forces active in Ukraine. While Russian authorities have not officially confirmed damage to the Dubna facility, regional governor Andrey Vorobyov acknowledged that a drone hit an administrative building in that town, though he reported no casualties at the site.
Separately, Governor Vorobyov reported a tragic loss of life in the Moscow region on Tuesday. A six-month-old infant died after a drone crashed into a residential home in Yegoryevsk, located southeast of the capital. Although emergency responders managed to pull two adults and two children from the rubble, the baby succumbed to injuries while being transported to the hospital.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin noted that Russian air defenses engaged in a massive operation, intercepting more than 60 drones following multiple waves of attacks that began Monday night. The Russian Ministry of Defense later claimed a total of 419 drones were intercepted or destroyed across the country.
Ukraine has progressively escalated its strikes deep into Russian territory, focusing on oil refineries as well as high-profile targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Following President Zelensky’s recent announcement of a 40-day initiative to force an end to the war, these deep-strike operations have sparked growing dissatisfaction among some Russian citizens. The attack on the Dubna facility marks the second time this month Kyiv has claimed a hit on the site; a similar incident occurred on June 22, which Russian state media described as a massive drone assault that caused no significant damage to operations or staff.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the ongoing strikes on the Moscow region during a press briefing on Tuesday, telling journalists that civilians are continuing to suffer and children are dying as a result of these actions.
