Drones damaged several residential buildings in Moscow early Tuesday as Russia pummeled Ukraine with a new wave of air strikes.
(Bloomberg) — Drones damaged several residential buildings in Moscow early Tuesday as Russia pummeled Ukraine with a new wave of air strikes.
No one was seriously injured in the Moscow drone attack, although two residents sought medical attention, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, in the latest sign that the war in Ukraine may be spreading beyond that country’s borders. Residents of two buildings were evacuated, he said.
“This morning, residents of some districts of the Moscow region could hear the sounds of explosions — it was our air defense system working. Several drones were shot down as they approached Moscow,” Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobiev said in his Telegram channel. Videos shared across Russian social media showed air defenses shooting at drones in various parts of Moscow and the Moscow region.
The drone attack was the biggest on the Russian capital since President Vladimir Putin ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Nobody has yet claimed responsibility. Ukraine’s capital Kyiv faced its 17th Russian attack this month alone as Moscow intensified its campaign of bombing ahead of a long-predicted Ukrainian military counteroffensive to retake occupied territory.
At least one person was killed and four were injured in strikes by Russian drones, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on his Telegram channel. Air defenses shot down 29 out of 31 Iranian-made drones, mostly directed at the capital, Ukrainian officials said.
Debris caused fires in several buildings during the third large-scale attack on Kyiv in the past 24 hours, according to the city’s military administration.
The attack on Moscow came after two drones exploded over the Kremlin on May 3 in an attack that officials blamed on Ukraine, which denied involvement. Russian territories close to Ukraine have come under repeated attack in recent months and the Defense Ministry in Moscow said last week that troops defeated an incursion by attackers who crossed the border into the Belgorod region.
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