The Daily Populous Monday July 21st, 2025 morning edition
Authored by kyivindependent.com and submitted by die_mannequin

Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Amid reported Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia, a fire broke out at a train station in the village of Kamenolomni in Rostov Oblast overnight July 21 as Moscow faced drones for the fifth straight night, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported.

"In the village of Kamenolomni, Oktyabrsky rural district, the roof of the railway station buildings caught fire due to falling drone debris. Three people were evacuated from the dispatch point. Preliminary data indicates that no one was injured," Rostov Oblast Governor Yuri Slyusar said.

Kamenolomni is located about 38 kilometers (24 miles) from Russia's border with Ukraine and about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled territory near Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast.

A flower shop caught on fire in Kamenolomni as well, the governor reported, adding that drones have been downed over the cities of Novoshakhtinsk, Shakhty, and Novocherkassk.

According to Russian Railways (RZhD), drone debris sparked a fire at a railway infrastructure facility in Kamenolomni, which had to be extinguished with the help of a special firefighting train.

As a result, 26 passenger trains have been delayed for up to 4.5 hours, and trains are now moving slower than usual through the station.

In Moscow, a total of five drones attacking Russia's capital were shot down by air defense, Sobyanin reported.

"Two drones attacking Moscow were shot down. Emergency service specialists are working at the crash site," he said.

A drone flying toward Moscow was shot down, he claimed in an earlier announcement

Two drones were shot down outside of Moscow as well, Sobyanin first said minutes before midnight on July 20.

Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports have temporary flight restrictions imposed amid the drone attack, a spokesperson for Russia's state aviation agency Rosaviatsia said on July 21.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify these claims.

The surge in disruptions reflects a strategic shift in Ukraine's drone campaign against Russia, according to Serhii Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Defense Army's Southern Division.

"Moscow is the biggest aviation hub in the Russian Federation — flights go everywhere, not only across Russia, but worldwide," he told the Kyiv Independent in May.

"This is about the potential disintegration of Russian regions and the weakening of internal control."

Ukraine has also had remarkable success using first person view (FPV) drones — on June 1, Ukraine launched a game-changing drone attack on four key Russian military airfields, damaging 41 planes, including heavy bombers and rare A-50 spy planes.

Kyiv claimed it disabled 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet in what is seen as one of the most daring operations during Russia's full-scale war.

Overnight on July 20, a fire broke out in Moscow Oblast as Ukraine reportedly launched a drone attack targeting the Russian capital.

motohaas on July 20th, 2025 at 23:57 UTC »

St Petersburg is going to start to feel left out

shibaninja on July 20th, 2025 at 23:56 UTC »

Those container shipping cranes in St Petersburg should be getting nervous...

die_mannequin on July 20th, 2025 at 23:12 UTC »

This is not the same fire as the one in The Kyiv Independent's reporting a day ago.

Here's the previous reporting from yesterday for anyone curious:

https://kyivindependent.com/fire-explosions-reported-near-moscow-as-ukraine-launches-drone-attack-on-russias-capital/