Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported more than 350 drones targeted the capital region between 20:00 Sept. 17 and 07:00 Sept. 18. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed a total of 629 Ukrainian UAVs were downed across 10 regions, including Tver and Kursk, with air defense activity extending to Nizhny Novgorod. The strikes caused disruptions at several airports in the Moscow area and hit a military airfield in Rostov, while 12 people were injured across Ukraine in reciprocal overnight strikes.

The drone barrage coincided with the opening of polls for Russia's first parliamentary elections since the start of the war. Ukraine's General Staff confirmed hits on a ground control station for the Orion UAV system at Saky airfield in Crimea and an ammunition depot in Luhansk. Neptune missiles also destroyed three production buildings at Atlant Aero in Taganrog, while separate strikes hit S-400 launchers in the Bryansk region.