Several drones were intercepted near Moscow

Multiple drones were intercepted in the Moscow region early Tuesday, including near an airport, according to Russian officials. They have attributed the latest aerial incursion to Ukraine, targeting the political and economic hub of Russia.

Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, stated that the attacks were directed at suburban Moscow and the Moscow region, but all were successfully shot down by air defenses. Fortunately, there were no casualties or fatalities.

This incident seems to be the first of its kind since May when two waves of drones approached the Kremlin and struck civilian areas, introducing the conflict stemming from the war in Ukraine to Russia’s political and economic core. Russia accused Ukraine of being responsible for those attacks, but Kyiv denied any involvement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it considered an attempt by the “Kyiv regime” to target an area with civilian infrastructure, including an airport that serves international flights.

Due to security concerns, flights to Vnukovo Airport, located in the southwestern outskirts of Moscow, were temporarily diverted on Tuesday morning. Russian state media reported that some of the intercepted drones were located in the village of Valuevo in the suburban region of New Moscow, close to the airport, as confirmed by emergency services.

According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, five drones were intercepted on Tuesday morning. Four of them were shot down by air defense systems, while one was intercepted through electronic jamming and subsequently crashed in the Odintsovo district in the Moscow suburbs. Debris from one of the drones caused a fire at an outbuilding on a farm, as reported by the state news agency Tass.

Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, stated that all the attack drones targeting Moscow had been successfully shot down, suggesting an effective response from the city’s air defense systems.

On May 3, two drones were flown towards the Kremlin, resulting in minor damage. U.S. officials suggested that the incident was likely orchestrated by one of Ukraine’s special military or intelligence units. On May 30, at least eight drones targeted various areas in and around the capital, marking the first strike to hit civilian areas.