Ukraine has launched one of its largest drone attacks on Moscow, the city’s mayor said, with Russian air defence units destroying 11 of the munitions targeting the capital.
Some owere brought down over the city of Podolsk, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Podolsk is in the Moscow municipal region some 38 km south of the Kremlin.
“This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever,” Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app on August 21.
The attack came 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 the country since the Second World War
Sobyanin said that, according to preliminary information, there were no injuries or significant damage reported following the drone attacks.
The latest assault appeared to be larger than the one in May 2023, during which at least eight drones were destroyed over the capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the attack was an attempt by Kyiv to scare and provoke Russia.
It was part of a broader Ukraine drone assault on Russia with the Russian Defence ministry saying its air defence units also destroyed 23 drones over the border region of Bryansk.
Six drones were destroyed over Belgorod, another Russian region on the 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.
There were no casualties or damage reported in the aftermath of the attack on the border region of Bryansk in Russia’s Southwest, Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the region, wrote on Telegram.
Russia’s RIA State news agency reported also that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow municipality to its north,
Separately, Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region in Russia’s Southwest, said air defence forces had destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over the region, with no injuries reported.
The Russian defence ministry did not mention either Tula or Rostov in its statement listing destroyed air weapons.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
In recent months, Kyiv has stepped up its air attacks on Russian territory, saying its aim was to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow‘s war efforts. It also said its attacks were in response to Russia’s continued strikes on Ukrainian territory.
Peter Stano, the European Commission’s lead spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security, has confirmed the EU's support for Ukraine’s strikes within Russia. https://t.co/dbaD10ZSbq
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 9, 2024
