Moscow came under one of the largest attacks yet by Ukrainian drones since the start of fighting in 2022, Russian authorities reported on Wednesday, saying they destroyed all of those headed towards the capital.
Russia downed 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, the ministry of defence said. It said 11 were destroyed over the Moscow region, 23 over the Bryansk region, six over Belgorod, three over Kaluga and two over Kursk.
“This was one of the biggest attempts of all time to attack Moscow using drones,” Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel. He said strong defences around the capital made it possible to shoot down all the drones before they could hit their intended targets.
Some Russian social media channels shared videos of drones apparently being destroyed by air defence systems, which then set off car alarms.
Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, reported a “mass” attack on his region but that 23 drones were destroyed.
While Ukraine has been bogged down in a land conflict in eastern Europe in which the Russians have been driving forward slowly at a heavy cost to both sides, Kyiv has also been attacking Russia with drones. Ukraine has targeted oil refineries and airfields in an attempt to weaken Russia’s fighting potential, and also has targeted the capital several times.
The drone attacks come as Ukrainian forces are continuing to push into Russia’s western Kursk region.
The daring incursion into Russia has raised morale in Ukraine with its surprising success and changed the dynamic of the fighting. But it’s uncertain how long Ukraine will be able to hold the territory it has seized in Kursk.
It has also opened up another front in a fight where Ukrainian forces were already badly stretched. The gains in Kursk come as Ukraine continues to lose ground in Donbas. The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, said in its daily report late on Tuesday that the Ukrainians had made additional advances in their incursion, now in its third week.
AP/PTI
