Moscow was targeted in an attempted drone strike on Tuesday morning, the mayor of the Russian capital has said.
“As of now, the attacks have been repelled by air defenses. All of the detected UAVs were destroyed,” Sergey Sobyanin said in a statement.
The mayor noted that no casualties were caused, and that emergency services have been working in the affected areas of Novaya Moskva (New Moscow), which is part of the city, and the surrounding Moscow Region.
Temporary flight restrictions around of the capital’s Vnukovo Airport have been lifted, Sobyanin said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said a total of five Ukrainian drones were involved in the attempted attack early on Tuesday.
Four of the incoming UAVs were shot down by air defenses over Novaya Moskva, while another crashed in the Odintsovo District of the Moscow Region after being disabled by electronic warfare, according to the ministry.
There was no damage on the ground resulting from the incursion, it added.
Earlier, a source in the emergency services told TASS news agency that two incoming drones had been downed on the outskirts of Moscow, while another was intercepted in Kaluga Region, to the southwest of the capital.
“According to preliminary data, three drones were heading towards Moscow… Two were suppressed by radio electronic warfare means in New Moscow, and one in the Kaluga region,” the source told TASS.
The debris of two drones intercepted on the outskirts of Moscow fell onto an open field near the Valuevo settlement around 5 kilometers from Vnukovo Airport, another source told RIA Novosti.
At least ten morning flights heading to Vnukovo were redirected to the capital’s other main airports, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo, according to the airport’s website.
Multiple eyewitnesses reported hearing at least two blasts in the Novaya Moskva area at around 6am local time, while several Telegram channels shared videos of smoke in the air.
Two weeks ago the Russian military foiled a Ukrainian raid on Moscow Region which involved three aircraft-type drones. The “terrorist attack” on the region’s facilities did not result in any casualties or damage as the UAVs were suppressed by electronic warfare, lost control and crashed, according to the Defense Ministry.
Ukraine has previously attempted to strike targets in Moscow Region and the capital itself. Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that Kiev had launched an attack on Moscow involving eight drones which were either shot down by air defenses, or suppressed by electronic warfare. The raid damaged several residential buildings, but did not cause any serious injuries.