World·NewRussian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia's Defence Ministry said Friday.Ukraine has stepped up aerial campaign against Russian targetsThe Associated Press · Posted: Jun 26, 2026 6:12 AM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.How Ukraine’s drone skills are slowing Russia’s advanceJune 14|Duration 10:57For about four years the Russians were consistently capturing and destroying Ukrainian territory, but that Russian advance appears to have been halted. For The National, CBC’s Terence McKenna breaks down how drone warfare has shifted momentum on the front line.Russian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia's Defence Ministry said Friday.It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russian regions and the illegally annexed Crimea since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine 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 the country. The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling its efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts say, and heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. People queue to refuel their cars at a Lukoil petrol station in Moscow on Wednesday. Ukraine's drone attacks have led to fuel shortages within Russia. (Igor Ivanko/AFP/Getty Images)The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X 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 U.S. peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.The successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have buoyed Ukraine.Russian chemical plant reported hitIn the Tula region just south of Moscow, a private house was damaged by the attack and a woman was wounded, Tula Gov. 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 and an unspecified industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk. Ukraine launches drone offensive in Crimea and inside Russia, where fuel shortages are taking a tollThe day the Five Eyes showed up to confront Russia about its plan to attack UkraineRussian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn't independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.2 killed in KharkivTwo people were killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said 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 said.n this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building following a Russian drone attack in Sumy on Friday. (Ukrainian Emergency Service/The Associated Press)Ukraine's Defence Forces overnight stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven Iskander-M 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 region and Sumy in the northeast.