Moscow’s drone strikes have grown exponentially thanks in part to a deal with Iran to produce its Shahed drones on Russian soil.

A video showing missiles striking central Kyiv in 2024 has been falsely suggested by social media users to show Moscow’s retaliation in June 2025 to Ukraine’s drone attack inside Russia.

Russia launched 138 Shahed drones and imitators against Ukraine, according to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russia launched drones from the directions of the Russian cities of Bryansk,