On Tuesday, Russia said that Ukraine had attacked Moscow with at least five drones, all of which were shot down or blocked, but planes were rerouted for several hours at one of the capital’s key airports.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, Moscow air defences shot down four Ukrainian drones and jammed a fifth, sending it crashing into the Odintsovo area in the Moscow region. Luckily, nobody was hurt.
Two drones, according to Russian news outlets, were seized around a town located 30 miles south-west of the Kremlin. The surrounding Kaluga region had one drone sighting.
Earlier on Tuesday, routine operations at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport were temporarily halted for several hours. There was a significant rerouting of planes departing from Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.
According to RIA, one drone was shot down near the town of Kubinka, located around 63 kilometres west of Moscow. Kubinka is located next to a Russian aviation base.
Kyiv did not immediately respond with a statement. Attacks within Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine are virtually never openly claimed as being carried out by Ukraine.
Drone strikes against high-profile targets inside Russia, the world’s biggest nation, including as the Kremlin in May and Russian oil infrastructure last month, have intensified in recent months.
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to a drone assault on Moscow in May by saying that Kiev was attempting to terrify and provoke Russia and that the city would be fortifying its air defences.
After a mutiny led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner forces headed towards Moscow, presenting Mr. Putin with the greatest threat to his power in almost two decades.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu condemned the attempted revolt by Wagner mercenaries during a meeting of senior army officials on Monday. However, a Russian general who has been questioned about the incident was noticeably missing.
Sergei Surovikin, a veteran military commander in his late fifties who earned the nickname “General Armageddon” for his brutal methods in Syria, has been missing since the brief uprising fizzled out on June 24. According to a source familiar with the situation, he was questioned for several days last week at a secret location about his connections to Mr. Prigozhin.
Mr. Putin’s former ally’s rebellion became the greatest danger to his 24-year reign, and it has raised doubts about how much previous notice the military had of Mr. Prigozhin’s preparations.
when making it within 200 km of Moscow with minimal resistance, Wagner’s soldiers stopped their advance when President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus mediated a compromise to resolve the conflict.
The attack follows prodding of Russian positions in the south and east of Ukraine by Ukrainian troops, who are beginning a counteroffensive.
Meanwhile, Russia’s missile and drone onslaught behind enemy lines has continued unabated.
Two apartment buildings were destroyed and three people were killed in a Russian drone hit on Monday, according to Mayor Oleksandr Lysenko of the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine.
The regional offices of the Security Service of Ukraine, the country’s principal intelligence agency, was also damaged in the assault, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. To counter Russian airstrikes, he suggested Western allies stock up on more air defence systems.