Moscow: Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Moscow, with Russian officials reporting that at least 11 drones were shot down by air defences on Wednesday. This marks one of the most substantial strikes on the Russian capital since the war began in February 2022.
The conflict, primarily an artillery and drone battle in eastern Ukraine, escalated on August 6 when Ukraine sent soldiers into Russia’s western Kursk region. Ukraine has also intensified drone attacks on Russian infrastructure, though large-scale strikes on Moscow, a city of over 21 million people, are less common.
Russia’s defence ministry reported the destruction of 45 drones across several regions: 11 in the Moscow region, 23 in Bryansk, six in Belgorod, three in Kaluga, and two in Kursk. Some drones were shot down over Podolsk, a city 38 kilometres south of the Kremlin, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
“This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones,” Sobyanin stated on Telegram, noting that the city’s defences successfully repelled the attack.
The drone strike coincides with Russian advances in eastern Ukraine, where Russia controls about 18% of the territory. Russia is also countering Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, the most significant foreign attack on Russian soil since World War Two.
Russian media aired footage of drones being shot down over Moscow. As a precaution, flights were briefly suspended at Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports but resumed normal operations by 0330 GMT, according to aviation authorities.
No injuries or significant damage were reported in Moscow or Bryansk following the drone attacks. In the Tula region, which borders Moscow, two drones were reportedly destroyed, while in Rostov, a Ukrainian missile was intercepted with no casualties.
Ukraine’s military claimed to have struck an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in the Rostov region, though these reports could not be independently verified.
This drone attack on Moscow is reminiscent of a similar incident in May 2023, when several drones were destroyed over the capital in what Russian President Vladimir Putin described as an attempt by Kyiv to provoke Russia.
In the Kursk region, Russian war bloggers reported ongoing battles, with Ukraine claiming to have recaptured at least 450 square kilometres of territory.
Meanwhile, over 122,000 Russians have fled border areas amid Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk, according to state media. Russian news agency TASS, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry, reported that residents have left their homes in large numbers following Kyiv’s surprise counter-offensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy previously stated that his forces have captured 1,250 square kilometres (480 square miles) and 92 settlements in the Kursk region so far.
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