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Largest Ukrainian Drone Attack On Moscow In Over A Year Leaves Four Dead

Zero Rss
2 months 3 weeks ago
Largest Ukrainian Drone Attack On Moscow In Over A Year Leaves Four Dead

The Russian capital has just suffered possibly its single biggest and deadliest Ukrainian drone attack of the war - and certainly the largest attack wave on Moscow in the last year. It ironically comes exactly a week after President Zelensky signed on to a three day Russian 'Victory Day' ceasefire at the behest of President Trump. It also comes after several days of major Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine.

At least four people have been killed in the overnight large-scale assault wave, with dozens more wounded. Regional airports have been shut down, and there's been a sense of panic as the threat lingered into the daylight hours Sunday, with onlookers filming drones flying uncontested over Moscow airspace. 

via Telegram

"A woman died in Khimki, north of Moscow, and a person was trapped under rubble, regional governor Andrei Vorobiev said. A man and a woman were killed in the village of Pogorelki," BBC reports, citing local authorities.

Additionally, "A male Indian citizen was killed and three others injured, India's Moscow embassy said, but it was not clear whether these casualties were included in Vorobiev's tally. Another person died in Belgorod region bordering Ukraine."

The regional governor said that residences were on fire, with a home in the village of Subbotino, southwest of Moscow, being one of them. 

Reports say the attack marks the first time of the entire 4+ year long war that Ukraine directly struck a Moscow oil refinery, considered to be the most protected energy facility in the country, with multiple strikes landing on target.

Moment of attack on Moscow refinery:

For the first time, Ukraine has managed to hit the Moscow oil refinery, the most protected facility in the country - multiple strikes. pic.twitter.com/0CE3rYACwJ

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) May 17, 2026

Hours-long fire at the key refinery...

Among other burning Russian things across Moscow today, fires at Moscow's massive Solnechnogorsk oil facility continue to spread, 8 hours after Ukraine's strikes. pic.twitter.com/RDFOS8zMm6

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) May 17, 2026

Some eyewitness accounts said at one point drones were seen flying in formation over Moscow, as if to make a mockery of Russian anti-air defense.

Ukraine's drone swarms have long proven a major problem for Russia's military, being small and low to the ground, able to evade expensive air defenses which were designed to intercept larger, faster inbound projectiles like rockets or aircraft.

Overnight, Russia's defense ministry said 556 drones were intercepted around the country. Some 130 of them were intercepted in the Moscow region alone, but clearly at least dozens still made it through.

Ukriane hitting Moscow today… multiple times pic.twitter.com/iDu4rBqHct

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 17, 2026

Amid the suicide UAV attack mayhem, Sheremetyevo - Russia's busiest airport that serves Moscow - suffered drone damage and falling debris, but there were no reports of injury at the airport.

"The situation in the passenger terminals is calm. Sheremetyevo Airport is providing stable passenger and aircraft services," airport officials said.

There have also been dramatic scenes of massive fires just underneath busy highways, causing panicked drivers to try and get past the flames quickly and safely, and watching the skies above.

Damage at Sheremetyevo airport...

via X

Ukrainian President Zelensky later owned up to authorizing the attack, saying the strikes were an "entirely justified" response to the last several days of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Kiev. This past week saw massive Russian attacks, which killed seven bystanders and wounded many more, including children.

Rare moment of chaos and fear over Moscow...

Moscow. Drone attack continues right now. Our local correspondent reports air defense activity directly above him. https://t.co/1Y7rrdEsjB pic.twitter.com/bMgFm6NCpT

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) May 17, 2026

The tit-for-tat drone hits have increasingly expanded to include civilian neighborhoods on either side of the border, sadly. The ground war has lately been largely stale-mated, with Russia having the clear edge, but the air war has been heating up - with both sides suffering serious damage, particularly at energy sites.

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/17/2026 - 15:45
Tyler Durden

YouTube, Snap, And TikTok Settle Kentucky School District's Social Media Addiction Claims

Zero Rss
2 months 3 weeks ago
YouTube, Snap, And TikTok Settle Kentucky School District's Social Media Addiction Claims

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

YouTube, Snap, and TikTok have settled a Kentucky school district’s claims that the platforms fueled a youth mental health crisis that the school district said it was forced to manage.

The Breathitt County School District in rural eastern Kentucky still plans to take Meta Platforms, parent of Facebook and Instagram, to trial on June 15.

The agreements, detailed in federal court filings on Friday, are among the first set for trial in more than 1,200 similar lawsuits filed by school districts nationwide.

“This matter has been amicably resolved and our focus remains on building age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on that promise,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

Snap and TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The district had sought more than $60 million to cover costs of countering social media’s effects on students and to fund a 15-year mental health program. It also asked the court to order changes to reduce addictive features on the platforms. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

More than 3,300 addiction-related lawsuits are pending in California state courts. Another 2,400 cases filed by individuals, cities, states, and school districts have been filed in the California federal court.

The companies have denied the allegations. They say they already take extensive steps to protect teens and young users.

The settlements come weeks after a landmark verdict in a related individual case.

In March, a jury found Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent and awarded $6 million to a 20-year-old woman identified in court records as K.G.M. or Kaley G.M., who argued she suffered depression, body dysmorphia, anxiety, and suicidal ideation as a result of being addicted to the social media apps.

K.G.M.’s case focused narrowly on how design and function—including features such as notifications, “infinite scroll,” and the companies’ proprietary algorithms—rather than third-party content, may have led to alleged psychological harms.

Meta and YouTube executives testified that they do not design their platforms to be addictive.

K.G.M.’s attorneys said the evidence clearly shows that leadership at both Meta and YouTube knew of the harms associated with preteen use, that young people with other co-stressors were particularly vulnerable, and that they went after that demographic anyway, introducing features such as vertical video feeds to compete with rivals such as Snapchat.

Like K.G.M.’s case, the Breathitt County School District’s agreement is one of a handful of bellwether trials expected to have a profound bearing on thousands of related, consolidated civil injury lawsuits brought by parents, children, school districts, and district attorneys.

Reuters and Beige Luciano-Adams contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/17/2026 - 15:10
Tyler Durden

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