Drones damage Moscow buildings in pre-dawn attack blamed on Ukraine
A rare drone attack jolted Moscow Tuesday morning, lightly damaging some buildings and leading to the evacuation of others, while Russia pursued its relentless bombardment of Kyiv with a third assault on the city in 24 hours.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 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,” AP reported. The attack brought the war to civilians at home in Russia’s capital for the first time. It caused “insignificant damage” to several buildings, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Two people received medical attention for unspecified injuries but did not need hospitalization, he said in a Telegram post. Residents of two high-rise buildings damaged in the attack were evacuated, Sobyanin said.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak denied Kyiv was directly involved in targeting Moscow on Tuesday, though he said “we are pleased to watch” and forecast more to come.
Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the wider Moscow region, said some of the drones were “shot down on the approach to Moscow.”
Ukraine made no direct comment on the attack, which would be one of its deepest and most daring strikes into Russia since the Kremlin launched its “military operation” in Ukraine more than 15 months ago.
Western support
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that the West was stepping up equipment and arms supplies to Kyiv ahead of what he said would be a “large-scale” Ukrainian offensive, and said Moscow would strike any supply routes it detected, Reuters reported.
Speaking on state television, Shoigu also said Russia was inflicting “effective fire damage on the enemy” and that the Western weapons would not change the outcome of Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin started work early on Tuesday to receive information about the drone attack from various government agencies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Putin isn’t planning to address the nation in the wake of the assault, he said.
Asked by the Associated Press whether there is concern in the Kremlin that the war is endangering Russian civilians, Peskov said only that attacks on Russia reinforce the need to prosecute the war.
It was the second reported attack on Moscow. Russian authorities said two drones targeted the Kremlin earlier this month in what they portrayed as an attempt on President Vladimir Putin’s life.