Ukraine launches 'one of largest ever' drone attacks on Moscow, mayor says

MOSCOW — Ukraine launched one of the largest-ever drone attacks on Moscow on Aug 21, the city's mayor said, with Russian air defence units destroying at least 11 drones flying towards the capital.

Some of the drones were destroyed over the city of Podolsk, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The city in the Moscow region is some 38km south of the Kremlin.

"The air defence systems of the defence ministry continue to repel enemy UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) attacks," Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app at 4.43am (9.43am Singapore time).

"This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever. We will continue to monitor the situation."

He said that according to preliminary information, there were no injuries or damage in the aftermath of the attacks.

Ukraine has often launched one or two drones targeting Moscow in recent months, causing no substantial damage.

The attack comes as Russia — while advancing in eastern Ukraine — struggles to push Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk region, two weeks after they smashed through Russia's western border in the largest invasion of Russia since World War II.

The onslaught on Aug 21, however, seems larger than the May 2023 attack where at least eight drones were destroyed over the capital in an offencive Russian President Vladimir Putin said was Kyiv's attempt to scare and provoke Russia.

Russian officials rarely disclose the full size of the attacks, reporting only drones that its air defence units destroy.

Both Ukraine and Russia also rarely disclose the full extent of the damage their attacks inflict, unless residential or civilian infrastructure is damaged, or civilians die.

The Aug 21 attack on Moscow was part of Ukraine's broader drone attack on Russia with the Russian defence ministry saying its air defence systems also destroyed 23 drones over the border Bryansk region.

Six drones were destroyed over Belgorod; another Russian region on the border with Ukraine; three over the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region to its north-east; and two over the embattled Kursk region, the ministry said.

There were no casualties or damage reported in the aftermath of the attack on the border Bryansk region in Russia's south-west, the region's governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on Telegram.

Russia's RIA state news agency reported also that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to its north.

Separately, Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region in Russia's south-west, said that air defence forces destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over the region, with no injuries reported.

The Russia defence ministry mentioned neither Tula nor Rostov in its statement listing destroyed air weapons.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

In recent months, Kyiv has stepped up its air attacks on Russian territory, saying its aim is to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts. It also said that its attacks are in response to Russia's continued strikes on Ukrainian territory.

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