RUSSIAN air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major overnight attack on 12 regions as well as the occupied Crimean peninsula, Black Sea and Azov Sea, Moscow said on Friday.

It appeared to be one of the largest drone attacks on Russia and the annexed Crimea since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than four years ago.

In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have for months been battering targets, including oil production and energy facilities, behind the front line and deep inside Russia.

In the Tula region, just south of Moscow, a private house was damaged by Friday’s attack and a woman was wounded, Tula governor Dmitry Milyaev said in an online statement, as reports of damage caused by the attack began to emerge.

He also said a power line was damaged along with an unspecified industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk.

Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.

Ukraine’s attacks have choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling its efforts on the battlefield and heaping pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s Security Service said it used drones to strike Russian navy ships and air defence radars in Kerch, an important port city in Crimea.

The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media that he had ordered “a 40-day influence operation,” believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at “compelling (Russia) to end the war” after US peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.

Mr Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from US President Donald Trump and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up efforts to force Mr Putin to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, two people were killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said on Friday.

Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements across the region using guided aerial bombs and drones of various types, Syniehubov added. 

Ukraine’s defences stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven ballistic missiles that were fired got through air defences and struck various locations, it said.

Ukrainian officials reported damage to energy facilities, homes and other civilian infrastructure in the capital, Kyiv, the southern Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions and Sumy, in the north-east. At least six people were wounded, according to authorities.