Ukraine launches ‘one of the largest’ drone strikes on Moscow

Russian officials say 45 drones were shot down over its territory as Ukraine continues its cross-border offensive.

Ukraine launched “one of the largest ever” drone attacks on the Russian capital of Moscow, according to Kremlin officials, in the latest flashpoint of the brutal war between the two nations.

The Russian defence ministry said 45 drones were shot down in a wide-ranging attack, including 23 over the border Bryansk region, six over the Belgorod region, three over the Kaluga region and two over the Kursk region.

Air defences shot down 11 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow, in one of the biggest of such strikes ever against the capital, officials said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian military drone operators in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia. Picture: Getty Images

“Moscow’s layered defence against enemy UAVs that was created has allowed us to successfully repel all attacks,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a Telegram post.

“This is one of the largest ever attempts to attack Moscow with drones.”

Sobyanin said in an earlier post that no damage or casualties had been reported.

Acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov has claimed on Telegram one person was killed in the Kursk region after a drone dropped on a bomb on their car.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military has claimed it downed 50 of the 69 drones Russia sent its way in an overnight assault.

Drone attacks on Moscow are rare, with Russia saying in May it had downed a drone outside the capital, forcing restrictions to be imposed at two major airports in the city for under an hour.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin made an unannounced visit to Chechnya. Picture: Aleksey Babushkin /POOL/AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin inspected Chechen troops during his first visit to the Muslim republic for the first time 13 years on Tuesday local time.

He was joined by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov as troops and volunteers readied to fight Ukraine.

“As long as we have men like you, we are absolutely, absolutely invincible,” Putin said according to a transcript on the Kremlin’s website.

“It is one thing to shoot at a shooting range here, and another thing to put your life and health at risk.

“But you have an inner need to defend the fatherland and the courage to make such a decision.”

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Picture: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP

The visit came three weeks after Ukraine’s surprise incursion into enemy territory, with Russian troops struggling to force back the offensive.

There was also a major political move in Ukraine on Wednesday, with its parliament voting to join the International Criminal Court, as Kyiv seeks to bring Russia on charges over war crimes it is alleged to have committed throughout its invasion.

Kyiv has repeatedly targeted oil and gas facilities in Russia since the conflict began in 2022, some hundreds of kilometres from its borders, in what it has called “fair” retaliation for attacks on its energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian drones attacked an oil storage facility in Russia’s southern Rostov region on Sunday, sparking a large fire, the local governor said.

The blaze in the city of Proletarsk was still raging on Tuesday, with around 500 Russian firefighters working to put it out.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his forces for hitting oil facilities in Russia, saying the attacks would help bring a “just end” to the conflict.

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Kyiv. Picture: Sajjad Hussain/AFP

The drone attacks come as Ukraine mounts an unprecedented cross-border assault into Russia’s Kursk region, where it claims to control more than 80 settlements.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a “return of peace” Wednesday as he left for Ukraine, weeks after Kyiv condemned him for hugging President Vladimir Putin during a visit to traditional ally Russia.

Modi, 73, will first visit Poland before travelling on to Ukraine on Friday. “As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region”, Modi said on social media.

The premier has trodden a delicate balance between maintaining India’s historically warm ties with Russia while courting closer security partnerships with Western nations as a bulwark against regional rival China.

His government has avoided explicit condemnations of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.

It will be Modi’s first visit to Ukraine, and he said he would discuss with President Volodymyr Zelensky “perspectives on the peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict”, as well as the “deepening the India-Ukraine friendship”.

– with AFP.