Air defense destroys drone over Moscow: Russian officials

Air defense forces downed a Ukrainian drone over Moscow on Friday, Russian officials said, the latest in a surge of aerial attacks targeting the capital.

Russia’s defense ministry said Ukraine launched the attack at about 04:00 (0100 GMT) “using an unmanned aerial vehicle against objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region”.

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“The UAV, after being exposed to air defense weapons, changed its flight path and fell on a non-residential building in the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment area of Moscow,” the ministry said on Telegram.

Moscow’s mayor said emergency services were on the scene, but that early reports indicated there were no casual-ties.

“The wreckage of the UAV fell in the area of the Expo Center, and did not cause significant damage to the build-ing,” Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.

State-run news agency TASS reported that one of the walls of the Expo Center’s pavilion had partially collapsed, citing emergency services.

“The area of the collapse is about 30 square meters (323 square feet),” emergency services told TASS.

TASS also reported that the airspace near the international airport of Vnukovo was briefly closed, with departures and arrivals delayed, citing the aviation service.

Until a series of attacks in recent months, the capital and its surrounding areas had not been targeted during the conflict in Ukraine, which began more than a year ago.

In recent weeks, two drone attacks were repelled over Moscow’s financial district, with each causing minor damage to the facades of high-rise buildings. In May, drones were shot down near the Kremlin.

On July 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that “war” was coming to Russia, with the country’s “symbolic centers and military bases” becoming targets.

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