Russian Air defences have shot down "several" drones targeting the Moscow region, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, as reported by The Guardian on Tuesday. One of the drones struck a tower that was already hit in a previous attack. No injuries were reported due to the attack, The Guardian reported. “The facade of the 21st floor was damaged. The glazing of 150 square metres was broken,” Sobyanin said in a Telegram post, as quoted by The Guardian.
After the attack, Moscow's Vnukovo international airport was temporarily closed, TASS state news agency reported. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, two drones were shot down by air defence systems at Odintsovo and Narofominsk near Moscow. The third one stuck and crashed in Moscow, Russian news agency Tass reported. The ministry blamed the attacks on Ukraine.
The attack comes two days after Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky issued a warning that "war" was coming back to Russia, news agency AFP reported. "Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia - to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair process," Zelensky said on a visit to the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.
"Ukraine is getting stronger," he continued, cautioning that the nation should brace itself for a fresh onslaught on energy infrastructure this winter. "But we must be aware that, just as last year, Russian terrorists can still attack our energy sector and critical facilities this winter," Zelensky was quoted by AFP in its report. He further added that in Ivano-Frankivsk, preparations for "all possible scenarios" were considered.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, three Ukrainian drones were shot down above Moscow early Sunday. Two office skyscrapers were destroyed, and an international airport was momentarily closed. Separately, Moscow said on Sunday that its forces had foiled a Ukrainian effort to use 25 drones to strike Russia-annexed Crimea overnight.
The strikes claimed on Sunday were the latest in a string of recent drone attacks blamed on Kiev, including on the Kremlin and Russian cities close the Ukrainian border. Since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow, which is around 500 kilometres (310 miles) from the Ukrainian border, has been rarely attacked.
However, Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a number of drone strikes on its territory in recent months, including some in its capital. The most significant incident occurred in May, when Russia claimed Ukraine deployed two drones to strike the Kremlin, the city's core. Ukraine denies striking the Kremlin or attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin.
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