The city of Moscow was targeted overnight by “one of the most significant” Ukrainian drone attacks in its history, its mayor announced on Wednesday, with Ukraine claiming to have neutralized fifty Russian drones.
Russia, which launched a large-scale assault against Ukraine in February 2022, has been facing an unprecedented Ukrainian offensive in its border region of Kursk since August 6.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, “eleven drones were destroyed” over the territory of Moscow and its region during the night, which is “one of the largest attempts to attack ever” the Russian capital with explosive drones, according to the mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, on Telegram.
The city of Moscow and its region, located more than 500 km from the Ukrainian border, have already been targeted by rare drone attacks.
During the summer of 2023, aircraft were destroyed above the capital’s business district, and in May 2023, two aircraft suffered the same fate near the Kremlin, in the heart of Moscow.
In total, during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, 45 Ukrainian drones were destroyed by Russian air defense systems over the regions of Moscow (11), Bryansk (23), Belgorod (6), Kaluga (3) and Kursk (2), the Russian Defense Ministry detailed in a press release.
A missile was also shot down around 1 a.m. local time in the west of the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine, according to regional governor Vasily Golubev.
For two weeks, Russia has been facing a major cross-border offensive by Ukrainian forces, which is still ongoing, while Russian troops continue their advance in eastern Ukraine, towards the city of Pokrovsk.
The commander of the Ukrainian air force, Mykola Oleshchuk, said that anti-aircraft defenses had shot down 50 explosive drones and a missile launched by Russia against its territory during the night.
The head of the Kiev military administration, Sergei Popko, said on Telegram that 10 of them had been intercepted while they were “heading towards the Ukrainian capital.”
“The air raid lasted all night and into the morning, for more than 9 hours” in total, according to the authorities of the Kiev region.