Russian air defences destroyed a Ukrainian drone that smashed into a building in central Moscow on Friday, causing a brief disruption to air traffic at all civilian airports in the Russian capital. According to Russian officials, there were no casualties reported.
Witnesses in the area described hearing a powerful explosion, and images showed workers and emergency workers inspecting a damaged roof of a non-residential building that was hit by the drone. The incident occurred in the early hours of Friday at Moscow’s Expo Center complex, which is located less than 5 kilometers away from the Kremlin.
The Russian defense ministry and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that air defenses successfully shot down the drone, preventing any further damage or harm. The defense ministry claimed that the attack was a “terrorist attack” launched by the “Kyiv regime” and accused Ukraine of targeting objects in Moscow and the Moscow region.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv regarding the incident.
As a result of the drone attack, air traffic was temporarily suspended at four major airports in Moscow – Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky. However, the airports were reopened later, and Russia’s air transport agency stated that seven flights were redirected to alternative airports.
This incident follows previous drone attacks deep inside Russian territory. In May, a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin, and later that month, civilian areas of the capital were targeted. Just earlier this month, a Moscow business district was hit twice in three days. Both Ukraine and Russia have denied targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure during the ongoing war, which began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
The New York Times previously reported that United States intelligence agencies believed Ukrainian spies or military intelligence were behind the drone strike on the Kremlin.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has caused extensive devastation in eastern and southern Ukraine, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties and severely straining Russia’s relations with the West.