Russia has accused Ukraine of launching an early morning drone attack on Moscow, the first time the city has been targeted by multiple drones since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The defence ministry said Kyiv staged a “terrorist attack” with at least eight drones causing minor damage. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said no-one was seriously injured. Several drones fell on an exclusive western suburb where senior officials live.
Ukraine has denied the attack. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that Kyiv was not directly involved, but that Ukraine had enjoyed watching events unfold and predicted an increase in such incidents.
The strikes on Moscow followed an overnight drone attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv in which at least one person was reported killed. Ukrainian officials said falling debris set buildings on fire as Ukraine’s air defences intercepted more than 20 drones.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said all eight drones targeting Moscow had been intercepted.
“Three of them were suppressed by electronic warfare, lost control and deviated from their intended targets. Another five drones were shot down by the Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system in the Moscow region,” the ministry said.
The aerial assaults struck some of Moscow’s most prominent neighbourhoods. Areas hit include Leninsky Prospekt, a grand boulevard created under Josef Stalin.
A suburb of western Moscow where Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has a residence, along with other members of the Russian elite, was also hit.
Earlier Russian media reports had said as many as 30 drones were involved. Authorities have also said several of them fell on buildings after being downed.
Mr Sobyanin said that some residents had been evacuated but were later allowed to return home. Two people had sought medical assistance, he said.
Some politicians have been quoted by Russian news agency Tass saying that the drone attacks were intended to cause panic, but that the attempt had failed.
The president’s long-time aide, Dmitry Peskov, also said Moscow’s air defences and the defence ministry had worked well in dealing with the aerial sortie.
However, Russia’s air defence systems are in need of modernisation, according to one politician quoted by local media.
The attacks in Moscow came as a complete surprise to the population, with no warning signals alerting that an aerial attack would happen, said Viktor Sobolev, talking to Federal Press.
Russia’s radar was unable to detect the drones and trigger the air raid alarm because they were flying very low, the former military officer explained. He added that Russia should create systems that can see drones at very low altitudes.
