The Russian capital was targeted overnight by “one of the largest” Ukrainian drone attacks in its history, the city's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, announced on Wednesday (21 August).
Ukraine continues its counteroffensive in Russia. The capital city of Moscow was targeted overnight by “one of the largest” Ukrainian drone attacks in its history, the city's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, announced this morning. “This is one of the largest attempted attacks ever carried out against Moscow with drones,” Sergey Sobyanin said in a statement on Telegram.
Several drones were destroyed
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, “eleven drones were destroyed” over the territory of Moscow and its region during the night “In total, during the night, 45 Ukrainian drones were destroyed by the air defense systems of the Russians over the Moscow regions (11) . ), Bryansk (23), Belgorod (6), Kaluga (3) and Kursk (2), the Russian Ministry of Defense detailed in a press release,” was shot down around 1 am local time
Hijacked airplane flights
Several flights to Moscow airport had to be diverted to other cities because of this attack.
Ukraine also accuses Russia
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchouk, for his part, said air defenses shot down 50 explosive drones and a missile fired by Russia against its territory overnight. The head of the military administration in Kyiv, Sergiï Popko, clarified on Telegram that 10 of them were intercepted while “heading to the capital of Ukraine.” “The air raid lasted all night and into the morning, over 9 hours,” in total, according to authorities in the Kyiv region.
Moscow has already been targeted by drone attacks in the past
The city of Moscow and its region, located more than 500 km from the Ukrainian border, have already been targeted by rare drone attacks. In the summer of 2023, the devices were destroyed above the capital's business district, and in May 2023, two devices met the same fate in the Kremlin.