Moscow faced, overnight, one of the most significant drone attacks in its history, the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said on Wednesday.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, 11 drones were destroyed above Moscow during the night. “This represents one of the most significant attempted drone assaults on Moscow to date,” Sobyanin said in a statement on Telegram.
Three devices were reportedly shot down in the Podolsk district, in the southern portion of Moscow region, without causing any injuries or damage.
The news comes as Russia, which launched its assault on Ukraine in February 2022, has been facing an unprecedented Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk border region since 6 August.
From Tuesday night into Wednesday, Russian air defence systems destroyed 45 Ukrainian drones over the regions of Moscow (11), Bryansk (23), Belgorod (6), Kaluga (3) and Kursk (2), the Defence Ministry detailed in a statement.
Furthermore, a missile was reportedly shot down around 1:00 a.m. local time in Rostov region, which borders Ukraine, according to regional governor Vasily Golubev.
The city of Moscow and its surrounding area, located more than 500 km from the Ukrainian border, had previously been the target of rare drone attacks. In the summer of 2023, drones were destroyed above the capital’s business district and in May 2023, two devices met the same fate near the Kremlin.
