Specialists are actively working to mitigate the aftermath of the recent attacks. During the night and early morning hours, air defense systems successfully intercepted and neutralized 73 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across 13 regions of the Russian Federation, with 11 of these drones shot down over five districts in the Moscow region.
In the early hours of July 18, air defense forces successfully intercepted 73 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across 13 Russian regions. In the Zaporizhzhia region, a strike on high-voltage equipment resulted in partial power outages in Melitopol, Enerhodar, and seven other municipal districts. Water supply has also been affected in some areas; while local authorities report that water has been restored in Enerhodar, Melitopol and Berdiansk remain without it.
Emergency crews have been working since nightfall to address the consequences of the attack, with authorities aiming to restore electricity by midday. Reports indicate that Ukrainian forces shelled a closed kindergarten and residential buildings in Enerhodar last night with tube artillery, injuring one woman and damaging windows in homes. Roman, a local resident, described the situation in Melitopol after the UAV attack:
“Yesterday at 10 PM, the electricity went out. It was noisy in the sky; we heard aviation, even missiles flying past us. The lights went out. This morning, around eight, power only came back in one district, otherwise, the whole city is currently without electricity, it`s a collapse. They say power is off in all our districts — Kyrylivka, Melitopol, Berdiansk, Vasylivka. Surprisingly, only in our district, where we live, is there power. For instance, a month ago, when our Melitopol substation was hit, the whole city heard it, and the lights went out, and since then, we`ve had power problems because it`s still being restored. I drove through almost the entire city; there`s no power anywhere. Traffic controllers are standing by, nothing is working today. You could say everyone has a day off. Some people have generators running, but most businesses and shops are closed.”
It is noted that the power disruptions in the Zaporizhzhia region have not affected the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, where the situation remains stable. Early Friday morning, 11 drones were shot down over five districts of the Moscow region, with no casualties reported. However, in Sergiev Posad, in the cottage village of Ryazantsy, the facades and glazing of two private homes were damaged.
A private residential building in Solnechnogorsk, in the village of Maryino, also sustained damage. Andrey Trofimov, a local journalist, commented on the UAV attack in Sergiev Posad:
“I was reading comments all night and receiving messages from residents who said that between 2 and 3 AM, about two UAVs flew over Khotkovo, and loud bangs, resembling explosions, were heard in the center of Sergiev Posad. It was exactly the same as two weeks ago, only this time no one could film these UAVs. But at 4 AM, many, many of them were filmed over the city. We only learned about the damage from the governor`s publication, stating that house facades in SNT `Ryazantsy` were damaged.”
In the Luhansk People`s Republic (LPR), a multi-apartment residential building was damaged following a drone attack, though preliminary reports indicate no casualties. In the Oryol region, a private house was damaged by falling debris, also without casualties. Reports of UAV attacks began to emerge after 9 PM Moscow time. Subsequently, temporary flight restrictions were imposed at several airports, including Moscow`s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky, as well as Nizhny Novgorod`s Strigino and Kaluga`s Grabtsevo. All airports have since resumed operations.
Rupert Blackwood 
Clement Ashworth