More than 500 unmanned aerial vehicles that attacked Russian regions during the night of July 6 were launched by Ukrainian forces mainly from the Chernigov and Sumy regions, according to military analyst and retired Captain 1st Rank Vasily Dandykin.

He said some of the drones were headed toward Moscow, but Russian air defense systems destroyed them before they reached the capital. Dandykin also noted that part of Ukraine’s UAV fleet is produced abroad, while the rest is manufactured in western Ukraine.

According to the analyst, more than 200 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Bryansk Region. Many of the UAVs were flying toward Moscow and were intercepted en route. He said Ukrainian forces could have launched drones from the Chernigov and Sumy regions, while on other routes launches may have come from the Nikolayev Region and from areas of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions that are partially under temporary Ukrainian control.

Dandykin explained that Ukrainian troops prefer to use border regions for launches because this makes it possible to increase the amount of explosives carried by the drones. At the same time, he said the strikes target civilian sites inside Russia, including civilian transport, residential buildings, and social infrastructure.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that during the night of July 5–6, Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed 519 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones. According to the ministry, the attack affected more than 20 Russian regions, as well as the waters of the Sea of Azov.