(Reuters) – Russian air defense units destroyed a swarm of Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow during a second consecutive night attack, which caused the capital's airports for several hours, officials announced on Tuesday.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said on social networks that at least 19 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed on their Moscow “of different directions” approach, causing any major destruction or injuries.
The consecutive attacks were before Moscow marking this week the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Russian President Vladimir Putin said a three-day ceasefire last week from May 8 to 10 to mark the birthday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the unnecessary measure and offered an unconditional ceasefire over at least 30 days in accordance with an American proposal launched in March.
Three main telegram information channels that have links with Russian security services – Bazaar, Mash and Shot – said that a drone had struck an apartment building near a high road in southern Moscow, Smashing Windows. There was no victims report.
Russia’s aviation dog, Rosaria, said the flights were interrupted in the four airports that serve Moscow for several hours to ensure airline. Airports in a number of regional cities have also been closed.
On Tuesday, Russia's air defense units destroyed four Ukrainian drones on their approach in Moscow, without damages or injuries.
Since the start of the war that Russia launched over three years ago, kyiv has launched several drone attacks against Moscow. His biggest attack on the Russian capital in March killed three people.
In the Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine in southwest Russia, at least 18 drones were destroyed, causing small damage in a non-residential building and a children's playground, the regional governor said on Tuesday.
While Russia's air defense units destroyed 10 drones in the southern Pena region, without any damage or injury reported, a regional governor on Telegram said.
On Tuesday, the full scale of the attack on Moscow and the rest of Russia was not clear. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv on the last drone attack.
Ukraine affirms that its drone attacks aim to destroy the infrastructure key of the global efforts of the Moscow War and are in response to the continuous assault of Russia on Ukrainian territory, including residential areas and energy infrastructure.
(Report by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; edition by Chris Reese, Stephen Coates and Michael Perry)
