Russia says it shot down 1,198 Ukrainian drones in one night – fire at the Volgograd refinery, restrictions at Moscow airports

Russia’s Defence Ministry announced on the morning of Friday, November 13 that its air defences shot down 1,198 fixed-wing Ukrainian drones within twelve hours, from 20:00 on Thursday to 08:00 on Friday Moscow time. The figure is far greater than the 808 drones announced on October 24. Russia reports only the drones it says it downed, so the real number launched is not known.

The ministry’s list includes the Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Saratov, Smolensk, Tver and Tula regions, the Moscow region, occupied Crimea and the Black Sea. The geographic spread shows that the attack was not confined to border regions but extended from the frontier to the Volga.

Over 460 drones toward the Moscow area

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted on Telegram all night about groups of drones shot down on their way to the capital. In his morning tally he said that from 18:00 on Thursday to 08:00 on Friday 467 drones headed toward the wider Moscow area. Most, he said, were destroyed by Defence Ministry air defences at long range, while 144 were neutralised as they approached Moscow. Emergency crews rushed to the places where debris fell, with no damage or injuries announced.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) imposed restrictions at Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, where arrivals and departures were carried out only after coordination with the competent authorities. The capital has come under several large attacks this autumn, the biggest on October 6, when Mr Sobyanin spoke of 650 drones toward the Moscow area.

Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don

Volgograd region Governor Andrei Bocharov confirmed a “massive” attack on the city and fires in the southern industrial zone. That is where the Lukoil refinery stands, one of the largest in Russia, with an annual processing capacity of 15 million tonnes of crude. Eyewitness videos appear to show flames over the facilities and the sounds of air-defence systems. Ukrainian forces had also struck the same refinery on October 2.

Southwest of Volgograd, Rostov region Governor Yuri Slyusar reported fires at a production unit and a warehouse in Rostov-on-Don, as well as damage to an apartment block from drone debris. The city had also been hit on November 8. The attack came two days after Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces confirmed a strike on the Omsk refinery, 2,500 kilometres from the border.

In the same period Russia’s Defence Ministry announced that Russian drones hit a cargo ship southwest of Odesa, which according to Moscow was carrying weapons and military materiel for Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The claim has not been confirmed by the Ukrainian side.