Russia’s capital Moscow has been hit in rare drone attacks. In the attack that authorities blamed on Ukraine, Russian air defenses shot down eight drones as they approached Moscow.
The Russian Defense Ministry disclosed that five drones were shot down and the systems of three others were jammed, causing them to veer off course. It called the incident a “terrorist attack” by the “Kyiv regime.”
According to Moscow Mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, the attack caused “insignificant damage” to several buildings. Two people received medical attention for unspecified injuries but did not need hospitalization, he noted in a Telegram post. Residents of two high-rise buildings damaged in the attack were evacuated, Sobyanin added.
Andrei Vorobyov, Governor of the wider Moscow region, said some of the drones were “shot down on the approach to Moscow.”
Residents in Moscow reported hearing explosions before dawn. Police were seen working at one site of a crashed drone in southwest Moscow. An area near a residential building was fenced off, and police put the drone debris in a cardboard box before carrying it away.
Hours later, Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, disclosed that Putin is working in the Kremlin and has been briefed about drone attacks on Moscow.
Peskov added that Russian air defenses and the defense ministry had done well in dealing with the assault and that there were currently no plans for Putin to comment on the attack on the capital.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied claims that Ukraine was responsible for the drone attacks in Moscow.
Podolyak was asked about the strikes while appearing on a breakfast television show.
“We have nothing to do with this,” he said, but added that Kyiv is “watching with pleasure and forecast an increasing number of attacks”.
He also joked that perhaps some Russian drones which were fired at Ukraine, had decided to “come back.”
Russia Launches 17th Attack On Kyiv For Month Of May
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Russia launched a pre-dawn airstrike on Kyiv, causing at least one person’s death and forcing inhabitants to seek shelter once more.
In an apparent effort to weaken the Ukrainians’ desire to fight after more than 15 months of conflict, Russia has struck Kyiv 17 times in May, often at night, using drones or missiles.
According to preliminary data from the Kyiv Military Administration, air defense forces in Ukraine destroyed at least 20 Shahed explosive drones in the capital’s airspace during Russia’s third strike on the city in the previous 24 hours. According to a later statement by the air force, 29 out of the 31 drones fired into Ukraine were shot down, the most of them in the Kyiv region.
Drones were buzzing above the city before daylight, and when air defense systems shot them down, there were huge explosions that could be heard.
The municipal military administration reported that one person was killed and seven people were hurt in the attacks that took place in Kyiv overnight. After being struck by debris from either drones or interceptor missiles, a high-rise structure in the Holosiiv neighborhood caught fire.
The building’s top two floors were completely destroyed, and the Kyiv Military Administration warned that there might be individuals buried beneath the debris. The evacuation involved more than 20 people.
