Ukraine reports hundreds of drone strikes since March

Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign against targets inside Russia accelerated in March and remained intense through mid-May, according to Russian and Ukrainian official statements reviewed on May 18. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 7,347 Ukrainian drones in March, a monthly record in its public reporting, while Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said its forces struck five strategic plants and 10 oil-sector facilities in Russia that month. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 17 that Ukrainian forces, the Security Service of Ukraine and military intelligence had carried out a “large-scale operation” targeting the Moscow region from more than 500 kilometers away. Those figures do not support an unqualified claim that Ukraine has been using “hundreds” of fixed-wing drones every day since March, but they do show a sustained increase in the scale of cross-border attacks. ABC News, citing an analysis of daily data published by Russia’s Defense Ministry and Ukraine’s Air Force, said the March total reported by Moscow equated to an average of 237 Ukrainian drones a day. ABC also said Ukraine launched more cross-border attack drones than Russia in a one-month period for the first time since the start of the full-scale war, based on those official tallies. (abcnews.com) ### What can be verified about the March increase? March 2026 is the clearest verified inflection point in public data. Russia’s Defense Ministry, as cited by ABC News, reported 7,347 Ukrainian drones downed during the month, the highest monthly total Moscow had publicly reported, and an average of 237 a day. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry separately described March as one of its largest months for strikes on strategic enterprises inside Russia. (abcnews.com) On April 2, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said March operations hit five strategic plants and 10 oil refining facilities in Russia. The ministry said the targets ranged from occupied Crimea and eastern Ukrainian regions held by Russia to Leningrad region and other rear areas inside Russia. (abcnews.com) ### Were infrastructure targets part of the campaign? Ukraine’s Defense Ministry explicitly said oil facilities were part of the March target set. Its April 2 statement said long-range strikes disrupted a significant share of Russian oil exports routed through the Baltic Sea and listed refineries, terminals and ports among the sites hit. (mod.gov.ua) On April 28, the same ministry said Ukraine could now strike targets up to about 1,750 kilometers from the border and described deep-strike operations against Russia as “systematic.” It cited a February strike on the Ukhta oil refinery in the Komi Republic and said strikes in 2026 had also reached refineries in Ufa, about 1,400 kilometers away. (mod.gov.ua) ### What happened around May 17 and May 18? May 17 brought one of the biggest publicly reported Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia in more than a year. Reuters, in a report carried by other outlets, said at least four people were killed after Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Russian regions including Moscow. Russian officials said Moscow faced its largest assault in over a year. (mod.gov.ua) May 18 brought fresh claims of very high volumes. The Kyiv Independent reported Russian state media said Russia had downed more than 3,000 Ukrainian drones in the previous week, including 1,054 on May 17, though it said it could not independently verify those figures. On the same day, Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 524 drones and 22 missiles at Ukraine overnight, with direct hits recorded at 34 locations. (english.alarabiya.net) ### Did Zelensky describe the attacks as part of a broader campaign? Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 17 that Ukraine had carried out “a large-scale operation targeting the Moscow region” and called it “a good wave of our deep strikes.” He said the distance to the targets was more than 500 kilometers and noted that the Moscow region was heavily protected by Russian air defenses. (kyivindependent.com) On April 28, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said long-range operations had become systematic and tied that shift to expanding strike range from about 630 kilometers in 2022 to around 1,750 kilometers in 2026. That statement did not quantify daily launches, but it did frame the campaign as a continuing effort rather than a single burst. (president.gov.ua) ### What is the bottom line on the “hundreds daily since March” claim? The strongest verified number is Russia’s March tally of 7,347 Ukrainian drones destroyed, equal to about 237 a day, according to ABC’s analysis of official data. That supports the narrower claim that the campaign reached the “hundreds per day” range in March. (mod.gov.ua) The available public record reviewed here does not establish that Ukraine used “hundreds” of fixed-wing drones every single day from March through May 18. What it does establish is that March marked a sharp increase in reported Ukrainian strikes into Russia, that energy and industrial infrastructure were among the targets, and that both sides were still reporting exceptionally heavy drone activity by May 17-18. (abcnews.com)