Russian airspace disrupted by Ukrainian-operated unmanned aerial vehicles
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seen a significant escalation in drone attacks, causing major consequences for air travel, civilian populations, and military responses on both sides.
On July 6, 2025, Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of drone strikes, leading to temporary suspensions of flights in and around Moscow due to security concerns amid ongoing drone threats. The Ukrainian military disrupted air traffic in parts of Russia, causing cancellations at airports such as Pulkowo near St. Petersburg and Sheremetyevo in Moscow.
In Ukraine, Russian drone attacks deployed up to 550 drones and missiles, focusing on key military and infrastructure targets along the approximately 1,000-kilometer front line where heavy fighting persists. These strikes caused civilian injuries and fatalities, including a drone attack in Kostyantynivka that killed four civilians and wounded another.
Ukrainian officials reported damage to civilian and energy infrastructure across multiple oblasts, including Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Khmelnytskyi. Russian drones also hit port infrastructure in Mykolaiv, damaging warehouses and the power grid but causing no casualties there.
Russia’s drone campaign included utilizing Chinese-made mounts for Shahed-type drones launched by catapults, indicating adaptation in drone deployment methods. Ukrainian forces successfully shot down a significant number of Russian drones through air defense and electronic warfare systems, with over 150 drones destroyed and many others disrupted.
On the ground, Russian forces have made marginal advances in areas like Kupyansk, continuing offensive operations amid the drone barrage. Ukraine continues to strike Russian military targets inside Russia, including airfields, while Russia bombards Ukrainian cities and infrastructure with mass drone assaults.
Both Russia and Ukraine are intensifying drone use as part of their broader offensive and defensive strategies. Russia focuses on disrupting Ukrainian defenses and infrastructure, while Ukraine targets critical Russian military sites and logistical hubs within Russia’s borders. The increased drone activity has prompted heightened security measures, including flight cancellations in Russia, and Ukrainian air defenses remain actively engaged in mitigating attacks.
In the contested region of Kherson, Ukrainian authorities reported two dead and three injured from Russian shelling of important infrastructure in the morning. In the Donetsk region, which is mostly occupied by Russian troops, the Ukrainian authorities reported three dead and seven injured since Saturday.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that six Ukrainian drones approaching the Russian capital were shot down. Air traffic was also temporarily halted in Kirov, about 800 kilometers northeast of Moscow. However, the article does not provide any information about drone destruction or interception in the regions of Kherson and Donetsk.
The Russian defense ministry did not provide information on possible damages or injuries from their artillery attacks in the partly occupied Ukrainian regions. The article does not provide any information about fires or heavy damage to buildings in the regions of Kherson and Donetsk, beyond what was caused by Russian shelling. There were fires and heavy damage to buildings, and at least three injured, in the Kyiv region, according to authorities.
Moscow's troops continued their artillery attacks in the partly occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Donetsk, resulting in daily deaths and injuries. Governor Vitaliy Kim reported massive attacks with Shahed drones in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, causing damage to warehouses and the power grid, but no injuries were reported.
The drone war between Russia and Ukraine is intensifying, causing significant disruption to air travel in Russia, inflicting civilian casualties and infrastructure damage in Ukraine, and prompting robust military and defensive responses on both sides amid ongoing ground combat operations.
The Commission, in light of the intensifying drone war between Russia and Ukraine, has also been consulted on the draft directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to ionizing radiation during drone operations, given the increased use of drones in war-and-conflicts.
The ongoing drone war, part of the broader political dynamics between Russia and Ukraine, has also been a major focus in general news, with reports of drone attacks, civilian casualties, and infrastructure damage being widely reported.
