Ukraine war: Drones strike residential areas in Moscow

The Russian capital and its surrounding areas are being targeted by rare drone attacks, causing ‘minor’ damage to buildings.

A "No Drone Zone" sign sits just off the Kremlin in central Moscow as it prohibits unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) flying over the area.

Moscow has come under attack from eight drones in an apparent escalation of the 15-month-old war in Ukraine, with the Russian defence ministry accusing Ukraine for the strikes.

The drones hit several buildings in Moscow on Tuesday morning, causing what was ­described as “minor damage” including in Profsoyuznaya Street in the city’s south, just hours after the Kremlin had launched ­another wave of “difficult” drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, killing one person.

Ukraine has not confirmed if it retaliated with a direct attack on Moscow. But the strikes mark a major signal to the Kremlin that Ukraine is intensifying its response.

Russia’s defence ministry ­accused Ukraine of a “terrorist attack”, saying it had intercepted all of the eight Ukrainian drones aimed at Moscow.

“This morning the Kyiv ­regime carried out a terrorist ­attack with drones on targets in the city of Moscow. Eight drones were used in the attack. All of the enemy drones were downed,” the ministry said.

“Three of them were suppressed by electronic warfare, lost control, and deviated from the intended targets. Five more UAVs were shot down by the Pantsir-S SAM system in Moscow region.”

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no serious injuries in the Russian incident.

In Russia, the pro-war media outlet Rybar said the drone strikes had caused “stress”, and tried to blame Britain for the attack.

“The decision on such strikes is made not by the Ukrainians, but by the British,” it claimed.

Britain has been the second biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine, behind the US, including long-range missiles and has begun training Ukrainian pilots, fuelling anger in Russia.

Security analysts say the drones used to attack Moscow could have been the “Beaver”, a new long-range kamikaze attack drone developed in Ukraine. The low flying drones deep into the heart of Russia’s elite, may have also been a test for the Ukrainians to see how capably the Russian air defence could detect and disable them.Earlier local sources in Moscow suggested there were as many as 32 drones in the attack, but the Kremlin has confirmed only eight.

Earlier, former Ukrainian ­minister Anton Gerashchenko ­described the Russian overnight assault involving 31 drones “from different directions, in waves, to make it more difficult for air ­defence”. He said 29 drones were shot down.

“Most of us got little to no sleep last night, hearing explosions and praying for our air ­defence,” Mr Gerashchenko said.

“We joke that in Kyiv it will take you three days to get eight hours of sleep. We hold on, we fight and we will get through all this.’’

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that one person was killed in a fire that erupted in a residential building caused by falling debris from a drone. ­Another 20 people were evacuated, including an elderly woman who was hospitalised.

President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier called Monday “a very long day”, saying “Russia wants to go to the end on the path of evil” with its attacks.

Kyiv resident Valeriya ­Oreshko told Associated Press that people were anxious following Russia’s latest drone strikes.

“You are happy that you are alive, but think about what will happen next,” the 39-year-old said.