MOSCOW Ukrainian drones struck wealthy districts of Moscow on Tuesday, in what one politician called the most dangerous attack since World War II, while Kyiv was also hit by air for the third time in 24 hours.
Drone attacks deep inside Russia have intensified in recent weeks, with strikes on oil pipeline installations and even the Kremlin earlier in May that Moscow has blamed on Ukraine.
Tuesdays early morning raid targeted some of Moscows wealthiest areas, including where Russian President Vladimir Putin and the elite have homes. The leader was in the Kremlin later and received a briefing on the attack, a spokesman said.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people were injured, one of whom was hospitalised, in the early morning attack. Moscows airports remained open. No deaths were reported.
Residents in south-western Moscow said they heard loud bangs, followed by the smell of petrol. Some filmed a drone being shot down and a plume of smoke rising over the Moscow skyline.
This morning, the Kyiv regime launched a terrorist attack with unmanned aerial vehicles on premises in the city of Moscow, Russias defence ministry said. Eight unmanned aerial vehicles were involved in the attack. All enemy drones were hit.
The ministry said special electronic counter-drone technology was used to divert three of the Ukrainian drones, while five more were shot down, including by Pantsir missile systems that help defend Moscow.
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak denied Kyiv was directly involved in Tuesdays attacks, though he said we are pleased to watch and forecast more.
Kyiv denied that it was behind the drone raid on the Kremlin earlier in May, though The New York Times reported that US intelligence believes Ukraine was behind that attack.
More than 15 months into one of the deadliest wars in Europe since World War II, there is little sign of peace, and Moscow has repeatedly warned that the West is escalating the war by supplying Kyiv with so much weaponry.
It was unclear how Russian President Vladimir Putin will react to the attack on Moscow, which brings the war in Ukraine to the capital of the worlds biggest nuclear power.
So far, Mr Putin has been successful in keeping the war in Ukraine far from Moscow, where life has continued relatively normally despite the biggest crisis in Russias ties with the West since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
Russian lawmaker Maxim Ivanov said Tuesdays drone attack was the most serious assault on Moscow since Nazi attacks during World War II, and no citizen could now avoid what he called the new reality.
You will either defeat the enemy as a single fist with our Motherland, or the indelible shame of cowardice, collaboration and betrayal will engulf your family, he said. More On This Topic Russia hits military base in Ukraine in new wave of strikes Ukraine aide proposes post-war demilitarised zone in Russia Also on Tuesday, Ukraine said it downed 29 out of 31 drones, mainly over Kyiv and the Kyiv region in the latest Russian barrage the third on the capital in 24 hours.
On Monday, Russia fired a barrage of missiles at Kyiv, sending panicked residents running for shelter in an unusual daytime attack on the Ukrainian capital following overnight strikes.
The latest barrages landed as the Ukrainian capital was still recovering from an overnight Saturday drone attack, the biggest since Russia began its campaign in Ukraine in February 2022. Rescuers working in a residential building that was damaged by drone attacks, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 30, 2023. PHOTO: AFP Kyiv received its first shipments of the American-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system in April, and US President Joe Biden on Monday suggested more aid was to come.
Asked about Russias fierce attacks on Kyiv, Mr Biden told reporters, Its not unexpected, adding: Thats why weve got to continue to give Ukraine all that it needs.
Kyiv has been preparing an offensive, although its timing and focus have been the subject of months of speculation. REUTERS, AFP More On This Topic Russia launches 15th air raid on Kyiv in May; Ukraine destroys over 70 drones, missiles Ukraine reports most important drone attack on Kyiv since invasion
