Overnight drone attack on Moscow injures 1, temporarily closes airport for traffic

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Authorities in Russia have reported an early Sunday drone assault on Moscow, allegedly launched by Ukraine. The attack led to minor injuries for one individual and instigated a temporary shutdown of an airport out of the city’s four.

This marks the fourth attack on the capital area this month and the third within this week, thereby intensifying worries about Moscow’s susceptibility to assaults amidst the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict now in its 18th month.

The Russian Defense Ministry has labeled the incident as an “attempted terrorist assault by the Kyiv administration,” stating that three drones had targeted the city. One of the drones was intercepted and destroyed by air defense systems in the Moscow region, while the other two, affected by signal jamming, crashed into Moscow City, the capital’s business district.

Images from the crash site revealed a single floor of a high-rise building exhibiting some damage. According to Moscow’s Mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, the attack resulted in “minimal damage” to the exterior of two structures within the Moscow City district. A security guard was reportedly injured in the incident, as per the state news agency Tass, referencing statements from emergency services.

During the incident, no aircraft were allowed to enter or leave the Vnukovo airport on the city’s southern fringes for approximately an hour. Additionally, the airspace over Moscow and its surrounding areas was temporarily closed off. However, these restrictions have been lifted since. Road traffic near the crash site in the Moscow City area was also temporarily halted.

Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the event, as they seldom admit to orchestrating attacks on Russian territory.

On the previous Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian drone near Moscow. Two additional drones targeted the Russian capital on Monday, one falling near the Defense Ministry’s headquarters located along the Moscow River, approximately 2 miles away from the Kremlin. The other drone struck a commercial building in southern Moscow, causing significant damage to its upper floors.

On July 4th, four drones were shot down by the Russian military on the outskirts of Moscow, and another was electronically jammed and forced to land.

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More about Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow

• BBC World News
• Reuters
• Al Jazeera
• Associated Press News