Regions across western and central Russia were targeted in a fresh overnight wave of drone attacks, the second this week, authorities and media reported Friday morning.
In Moscow, air defense systems destroyed a drone on its approach to the Russian capital, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Friday.
Air defense near the Lyubertsy district on the southeast outskirts of the capital “thwarted another attempt to fly a drone to Moscow,” Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app, but did not say whether the aircraft was Ukrainian.
“There were no casualties or damage, according to initial reports. Emergency services are on the scene,” he added.
Air traffic at Moscow’s Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports was temporarily suspended, according to the state-run daily newspaper Izvestia.
Moscow has been targeted by a barrage of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks after Kyiv vowed in July to “return” the war to Russia.
Meanwhile, in the Byransk, Pskov, Belgorod, Kursk, and Moscow regions, authorities reported a series of drone drone downings by air defense systems.
“An aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down over the Bryansk region. There were no casualties or damage,” said Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz, adding that emergency services were at the scene.
In the neighboring Kursk region, the town of Kurchatov was attacked by two Ukrainian drones early Friday, but it was not clear whether the aircraft had hit their targets.
“An administrative building and a residential building were damaged,” Kursk region Governor Roman Starovoyt said on Telegram, adding that investigators were headed to the scene to assess the extent of the damage.
Kurchatov is about 100 kilometers from Russia’s border with Ukraine.
Pskov region Governor Mikhail Vedernikov shared a video on Telegram of Russian forces firing at “a single unidentified object” in the night sky, adding that the aircraft had been “neutralized.”
Pskov lies some 660 kilometers north of Ukraine and 30 kilometers east of the border with Estonia, a member of both the European Union and NATO.
AFP contributed to this reporting.
