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Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow for the second night in a row, forcing the temporary closure of the capital’s airports, Russia’s military reported.
The consecutive attacks came ahead of Moscow this week marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Germany in the second world war. Vladimir Putin tried to call a three-day ceasefire for the 8-10 May anniversary; however, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, characterised the idea as self-serving and pointless unless it lasted 30 days in line with a US proposal that the Russian president has ignored.
The Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said at least 19 Ukrainian drones approached Moscow “from different directions”. Three social media sites with links to Russian security services – Baza, Mash and Shot – said one drone struck an apartment building near a major road in the south of the capital, smashing windows. There were no reports of casualties, both they and Sobyanin said.
“Specialists from the emergency services are working at the sites where the incidents occurred,” Sobyanin said. The mayor referred to debris falling on one of the key highways leading into the city, but made no mention of a dwelling being hit.
In the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine in Russia’s south-west, at least 18 drones were reported, the regional governor said.
Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, temporarily halted flights at all four airports that serve Moscow. Airports in some regional cities were also temporarily closed.
On Tuesday, Russia said its air defence units destroyed four Ukrainian drones on their approach to Moscow, with no damage or injuries reported. Russian authorities routinely claim, whatever the actual outcome, that all attacking drones were destroyed with damage caused only by falling debris.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv about the latest drone attack. Ukraine says its drone strikes are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow’s overall war efforts and are in response to Russia’s continued assault on Ukrainian territory, including residential areas and energy infrastructure.
In March, 91 drones targeted the Moscow region, killing three people, causing fires and disrupting flights and train services, in Ukraine’s largest such attack on Moscow since Putin started the war. The Russian defence ministry reported that 337 drones were launched at Russia in that wave.
Ukraine’s military said its forces had been engaged in combat operations in Russia’s Kursk region over the past 24 hours, despite Moscow saying it had defeated a Ukrainian incursion into the area.
In a daily update posted on the Telegram social media platform, the military said its forces in the Kursk sector had fought off Russian attacks and come under fire from Russian artillery and air-dropped bombs.
On Monday, Mike Pence, the US vice-president during Donald Trump’s first term, criticised Trump for threatening to abandon support for Ukraine. Pence said: “If the last three years teaches us anything, it’s that Vladimir Putin doesn’t want peace; he wants Ukraine. And the fact that we are now nearly two months of following a ceasefire agreement that Ukraine has agreed to and Russia continues to delay and give excuses confirms that point.
“The wavering support the administration has shown over the last few months, I believe, has only emboldened Russia.”
Reuters contributed to this report
