Russia Says Ukrainian Drone Attack Damaged Building In Moscow, Disrupted Air Traffic: Report

Russia has said that a Ukrainian drone hit a building in Central Moscow and as a result, flight services were affected for some time at four major airports.

Another drone attack has been reported in the Russian capital town of Moscow where it hit a building on Friday, reported Reuters. Russian officials have said that it was a Ukrainian drone and Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air traffic at all the civilian airports of Moscow, the report further said. The drone fell on a non-residential building of Moscow's Expo Center complex in the early hours of Friday after it was neutralised by Russian air defence system.

Russian defence ministry and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties in the incident, Reuters added. 

"At about 4 am Moscow time, the Kyiv regime launched another terrorist attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle on objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region," the Russian defence ministry was quoted as saying by Reuters. 

Tweeting the video, Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine said: "A drone attack on Moscow last night. An expo center was hit, Russian authorities reported. Vnukovo airport was closed off for flights after that." 

According to the report, the Expo Centre is Moscow is a large spread of exhibition pavilions and multi-purpose halls, fewer than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the Kremlin. They added that air traffic was briefly halted at four major airports around the capital - Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky. 

Meanwhile, seven flights were redirected to alternative airports, stated Russia's air transport agency, the agency quoted. 

Drone strikes have increased in the last few months in Russia since a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin in early May. However, both Ukraine and Russia have denied targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures in the nearly 18-month war. 

According to BBC, on 30 and 31 July, two separate drones crashed into the glass facade of a skyscraper just a few hundred metres from the Expo Center.