Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it shot down three Ukrainian drones in the central Kaluga region, the latest in a surge of air attacks deep inside Russia.
Ukraine launched the attack at 5:00 am using “three unmanned aerial vehicles against buildings in the Kaluga region,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
“All of the drones were detected and destroyed in a timely manner by Russian air defense systems,” the statement continued.
Kaluga region Governor Vladislav Shapsha said the drones were shot down in the south of the region, a few hundred kilometers southwest of Moscow.
“People and infrastructure have not been impacted [by the drones],” Vladislav Shapsha said on Telegram.
The air attack is at least the fifth this month over the Kaluga region that Russia says it has thwarted.
Authorities previously said they had intercepted drone attacks in the region on Aug. 12, 10, 7 and 3.
Until a series of attacks in recent months, Moscow and its surrounding regions had not been targeted during the war in Ukraine, which began more than a year ago.
In recent weeks, drones have attacked the Russian capital’s financial district, causing minor damage to the facades of high-rise buildings.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that “war” was coming to Russia, with the country’s “symbolic centers and military bases” becoming targets.