Russia again accuses Ukraine of attempted drone strikes in the Moscow region. Accordingly, the missiles should have been shot down. Air traffic at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport was temporarily diverted.
According to the Defense Ministry, the Russian air defense shot down a total of five drones over the Moscow region. Three drones had previously been reported. Four of the five drones were shot down by anti-aircraft defenses on the outskirts of the capital, and the fifth was paralyzed using electronic warfare and brought to the ground.
“This morning we thwarted the attempt by the regime in Kiev to carry out an act of terrorism using five drones,” the Defense Ministry said. There were no injuries or damage. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin wrote in his Telegram channel that the Russian air defenses repelled “another attempted attack by Ukrainian drones”.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova spoke of Ukraine’s attempt to attack an area in which civilian infrastructure is located. This also affected Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, which is used for international flights. The drone attack is “a new act of terrorism,” Zakharova added. The Ukrainian side did not claim responsibility for the alleged attempted attack.
Air traffic at Moscow Airport temporarily diverted
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti, citing emergency services, reported that one of the drones was rendered harmless near Kubinka, around 40 kilometers from Vnukovo Airport, southwest of central Moscow. Air traffic was diverted to other airports for safety reasons. According to the Russian aviation authority, flight operations resumed at 08:00 Moscow time.
According to the Defense Ministry, Russian air defenses destroyed four of the drones near Moscow, and the fifth was knocked out in the capital region using “electronic warfare”. Two of the drones were shot down near the village of Valuevo in the Moscow region, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Already several incidents with drones
There had already been drone attacks on Moscow at the beginning and end of May. According to the authorities, houses were also damaged and people injured.
As a consequence, President Vladimir Putin had called for an improvement in their own air defense systems. He blamed Ukraine for the attacks. The government in Kiev had denied any direct involvement in the attacks.
