Russia Says It Thwarted Ukrainian “Terrorist” Drone Attacks on Moscow

By Staff, Agencies

Russia declares its air defenses have again thwarted a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” against its capital Moscow using drones, reporting no casualties or significant damages in the aftermath.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that three Ukrainian drones were involved in the attack that took place in the early hours of Tuesday.

“On the night of August 1st, an attempted terrorist attack by the Kiev regime with lethal drones on targets in Moscow and Moscow region was thwarted,” the statement, published on the Telegram messaging app, said.

According to the statement, two of the drones were downed in suburbs west of the city center.

“Yet another [drone] was hit by radio-electronic equipment and, having run out of control, crashed on the territory of the complex of non-residential buildings at Moskva Citi,” the ministry said, referring to a business center in the capital. It was the same tower hit earlier in the week.

Earlier, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram channel that “One [of the drones] flew into the same tower at the Moskva Citi complex hit previously. The facade has been damaged on the 21st floor. Glazing was destroyed over 150 square meters.”

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Following the attempted attack, Vnukovo airport, one of three major airports serving the capital was briefly shut down. It later resumed full operations.

Tass news agency cited emergency services as saying that debris from the falling drone had been located and would be sent for technical expertise.

Last Sunday, Moskva Citi was hit by drone attacks that caused limited damage.

The Kremlin has said Ukrainian attacks on Moscow and other Russian targets were “acts of desperation.”  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed on Monday that Russia was taking all measures possible to protect against assaults.

The attacks were the latest in a series of recent drone assaults led by Kiev several weeks into Ukraine’s so-called counteroffensive that Moscow labels as a failure.

Russian officials have repeatedly slammed Ukraine’s drone attacks on Moscow which have been largely repelled. Russia’s foreign ministry has blamed the US and its NATO allies for providing Kiev with arms for such attacks.

Russia has warned the West against arming Kiev’s “Nazi” regime with weapons, saying it would only add to the losses.

Moscow launched its military campaign in eastern Ukraine in February 2022 to aid the persecuted Russian-speaking population there and stop NATO’s eastward expansion towards its borders.