Some of the drones were destroyed over Podolsk, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, a city in the Moscow region some 40km south of the Kremlin.
"This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever," Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging early on Wednesday.
The attack comes as Russia - while advancing in eastern Ukraine - struggles to push Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk region, two weeks after they smashed through Russia's western border in the largest invasion of Russia since World War II.
No injuries or damage were reported after the attacks, Sobyanin said.
The attack appears larger than a Ukrainian attack in May 2023 involving at least eight drones. (AP PHOTO)
Ukraine has often launched one or two drones targeting Moscow in recent months, causing no substantial damage.
The Wednesday attack, however, seems larger than May 2023 attack when at least eight drones were destroyed over the capital in an attack President Vladimir Putin said was Kyiv's attempt to scare and provoke Russia.
Russian officials rarely disclose the full size of the attacks, reporting only drones that its air defence units destroy.
Both Ukraine and Russia also rarely disclose the full extent of the damage their attacks inflict, unless residential or civilian infrastructure is damaged or civilians die.
The Wednesday attack on Moscow was part of a broader Ukraine's drone attack on Russia, with the Russian defence ministry saying its air defence units also destroyed 23 drones over the border Bryansk region.
Six drones were destroyed over Belgorod, another Russian region on border with Ukraine, three over the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region to its northeast, and two over the embattled Kursk region, the ministry said.
No casualties or damage were reported on the border Bryansk region in Russia's southwest, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on Telegram.
Russia's RIA state news agency reported that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to its north.
Separately, Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region in Russia's southwest, said air defence forces destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over the region.
In recent months, Kyiv has stepped up its air attacks on Russian territory, saying its aim is to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts.
It also says its attacks are in response to Russia's continued strikes on Ukrainian territory.
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