A drone attack alert was issued in the North Caucasus overnight into August 21. The warning was in effect from 2:46 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.

Operations at Makhachkala Airport were temporarily restricted due to the threat. The restrictions were lifted in the morning, and the airport resumed flight operations.

However, there were no reports of drones being shot down or crashing directly within the North Caucasus republics by the morning of August 21. Nevertheless, a massive drone raid took place overnight and into the morning of August 21 across several regions of southern Russia, as well as in other areas and occupied Crimea.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 325 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones between 8:00 p.m. on August 20 and 8:00 a.m. on August 21. Drones were detected over the Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, and Tula regions; the Moscow region; Crimea; Udmurtia; the Krasnodar and Perm krais; and the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea.

In the south of the country, the attack affected the Astrakhan, Rostov, and Volgograd regions, Krasnodar Krai, and annexed Crimea, among others. The impact varied across the different regions.

In the Rostov region, Governor Yury Slyusar reported that nearly three dozen drones had been shot down. They were intercepted in the Millerovsky, Chertkovsky, Sholokhovsky, and Kasharsky districts. Preliminary reports indicate no injuries or damage. A drone threat alert was issued in the Volgograd region on the evening of August 20 and remained in effect until the following morning. Airport operations in the region were also restricted during the threat; Volgograd’s airport did not handle arrivals or departures between 10:41 PM and 5:45 AM. Normal operations resumed once the restrictions were lifted.

In Crimea, the attack was accompanied by explosions and power outages. Residents of Simferopol reported a series of explosions and flashes near the Tavricheskaya Thermal Power Plant. Reports of power issues came from Simferopol, Sevastopol, Dzhankoy, and Kerch.

At the time of publication, there was no official information regarding the extent of damage to energy infrastructure. However, the Head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, reported casualties. According to his data, two residents of the Simferopol district were killed, and three others were injured; one of the injured is in the Saki district.