On Sunday morning, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have shot down three Ukrainian drones that were attempting to attack Moscow.
According to the early reports, there was only minor damage to the façade of two office buildings in the Moskva-Citi business district – several miles from the Kremlin.
One of the drones was shot down, while two others were neutralized but crashed into the buildings – one of which houses several government offices including the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Digital Development and the Federal Agency for Nationalities among other agencies.
Some glass panels in one high-rise building were blown out and glass and debris littered part of the pavement below, according to a Reuters reporter on the scene.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the facades of two office buildings were slightly damaged. The area was evacuated, several streets had been cordoned off, and at least one person was injured.
Dashcam footage recorded one of the drones as it exploded, while another video 33-second-long clip showing the strike has been making the rounds across social media.
Flights to and from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport were briefly suspended due to the incident, with incoming aircraft redirected to other airports.
Bringing the Fight to the Heart of Russia
This is the third drone strike on Moscow in less than a week and a fourth this month. While Kyiv hasn’t taken responsibility for the attacks, following the reports of Sunday’s strike on the Russian capital, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Sunday morning that “war” would come home to Russia.
“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” Zelensky said on a visit to the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Barron’s first reported.
Moscow is about 500 km (310 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Two drones reached the Kremlin in May, which remains the most-profile incident of its kind. Russia’s foreign ministry has said such attacks “would not be possible without the help provided to the Kyiv regime by the U.S. and its NATO allies.”
Drone Strike on Crimea
The Russian Ministry of Defense also announced that it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack overnight in Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014. The Kremlin claimed it destroyed or disabled a total of 25 drones.
“Sixteen Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed by air defence fire,” the Russian defense ministry said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones. “Another nine Ukrainian drones were suppressed by means of electronic warfare and, without reaching the target, crashed into the Black Sea.”
The Kremlin said no ships or facilities were damaged in the attack.
The drone attack on Crimea, including the number of UAVs involved, has not been independently confirmed. This is a developing story.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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