The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of carrying out “continuous” drone attacks on civilian infrastructure inside Russia, while ignoring one of the largest Ukrainian strike operations against Moscow and the surrounding region since the war began.
Speaking to Russian state media, Dmitry Peskov claimed Russian forces only target “military or military-adjacent facilities” in Ukraine, despite a wave of recent Russian attacks that killed civilians and hit residential districts.
“In this regard, it is worth once again paying attention to the uninterrupted strikes by the Ukrainian armed forces using drones against peaceful objects and civilian infrastructure in various Russian cities and settlements,” Mr Peskov said.
His comments came just days after Russia launched one of its deadliest aerial assaults on Kyiv in recent months.
During the overnight attack on May 14–15, Russian forces fired 675 drones and 56 missiles at Ukraine, primarily targeting the capital, according to Ukrainian officials.
At least 24 people, including three children, were killed after a missile tore through part of a residential building in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district. A further 47 people, including children, were injured.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described the bombardment as a “virtually non-stop aerial attack” carried out over two days.
Russia continued strikes on other cities in the days that followed, including attacks on Dnipro and Odesa involving drones and missiles. Ukrainian officials said residential buildings, warehouses and civilian infrastructure were damaged, while at least 20 civilians were injured.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 546 aerial targets overnight in one barrage alone, including 524 drones and 22 missiles.
Mr Peskov also failed to mention Ukraine’s own large-scale weekend drone offensive against Moscow and nearby regions, which Ukrainian officials said targeted facilities linked to Russia’s military-industrial complex and fuel supply network.
According to Ukraine’s General Staff and the Security Service of Ukraine, strikes hit the Angstrem semiconductor plant in Zelenograd, which manufactures microchips for Russia’s defence sector, as well as the Moscow oil refinery in the Kapotnya district.
Ukraine also claimed to have struck oil pumping stations and fuel infrastructure used to support Russian military logistics.
Kyiv said the operation involved domestically produced long-range drone systems, including the RS-1 “Bars”, FP-1 “Firepoint” and BARS-SM “Gladiator”.
Russian authorities claimed more than 550 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across multiple regions, though Ukrainian officials insisted several “high-value” targets were successfully hit.
Despite the ongoing escalation, Mr Peskov said the Kremlin still hoped peace talks could resume with U.S. mediation.
“We expect it will still be resumed,” he said.
The exchange of mass drone and missile attacks underscores how both sides are increasingly taking the war deep behind the front lines, targeting infrastructure viewed as critical to sustaining the conflict.
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