Russia ‘thwarts’ Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow

The ‘attempted terrorist attack’ on Russia’s capital damaged two office buildings, but caused no casualties, officials say.

Russian forces have intercepted three Ukrainian drones over the city of Moscow, the country’s defence ministry said, condemning what it called an “attempted terrorist attack”.

The drone attack on the Russian capital early on Sunday damaged two office blocks, according to Moscow’s mayor, and forced the closure of an airport in the city.

“The Kyiv regime’s attempted terrorist attack with unmanned aerial vehicles on objects in the city of Moscow was thwarted,” the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

It said one of the drones was shot down, while two, “suppressed by electronic warfare”, crashed into a building complex.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that “facades of two city office towers were slightly damaged” following the drone attack.

“There are no victims or injured,” he said.

The Russian TASS news agency meanwhile reported that Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport was closed for departures and arrivals.

The attack on Sunday was the latest in a series of recent drone assaults – including on the Kremlin and Russian towns near the border with Ukraine – that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv.

They come several weeks into a Ukrainian counteroffensive to take back territory of the country captured by Russia since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia’s foreign ministry has said such attacks “would not be possible without the help provided to the Kyiv regime by the United States and its NATO allies”.

On the other side of the border, Ukrainian authorities said at least one civilian was killed and five others wounded in a Russian missile attack on the northeastern city of Sumy.

“On the evening of July 29, an enemy missile hit an educational institution. Law enforcement officers are working at the scene, recording the effects,” the national police forces said on Telegram.

According to public broadcaster Suspilne, the building was destroyed in an explosion at about 8:00pm local time (17:00 GMT).