Ukraine has launched one of its largest drone attacks on Moscow as it continues a major incursion into Russia's Kursk region, Russian officials said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that air defense forces shot down 11 drones over Moscow and its surrounding region, with some reportedly downed over the city of Podolsk, about 38 kilometers (24 miles) south of the Kremlin.
“This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow with drones,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app. No damage or casualties were reported, he said in an earlier post.
Drone attacks on Moscow are rare. Ukraine's latest attempt to attack the Russian capital appears to have been more significant than the previous attack in May 2023, when at least eight drones were shot down.
Wednesday's bombing was part of a broader attack on Russia; the Defense Ministry said its air defense units destroyed 23 drones over the Bryansk border region.
Six drones were destroyed over Belgorod, another Russian region bordering Ukraine, three over the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region to the northeast, and two over the embattled Kursk region, the ministry said.
Russia's state news agency RIA also reported that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to the north.
Following the Moscow assault, temporary restrictions were imposed overnight at Moscow's Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, but all three returned to normal operations later on Wednesday.
“Yes that's how it is [Ukraine] “If drones do attack cities, how many of those drones will make it through? What effect will it have on Russian strategic thinking, as all those cities are very well protected, especially the capital? So it remains to be seen whether this is a radical change or a one-off move by Ukraine's military command,” said Al Jazeera's defence editor Alex Gatopoulos, reporting from kyiv.
Lightning attack
The Ukrainian drone attack came as Russia struggles to drive Ukrainian forces out of Kursk, two weeks after the surprise incursion.
Hundreds of prisoners were taken and tens of thousands of civilians were forced to evacuate following Ukraine's lightning attack on Kursk on August 6.
Ukraine now claims control of 1,263 square kilometers (488 square miles) of the Kursk Territory, including 93 settlements.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian forces said they had attacked an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system based in the Rostov region in southern Russia.
On Sunday, Ukrainian drones also struck an oil depot in Rostov, causing a massive fire. Hundreds of Russian firefighters were still battling the blaze on Wednesday.
“Does this indicate a change in Ukraine’s strategic thinking? They have been very successfully targeting Russia’s industrial capacity to wage war,” said Al Jazeera’s Gatopoulos.
“You can see that the Rostov-on-Don oil refinery is still burning after four days, and its output has dropped to a mere fraction of what it was before,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continued their offensive in eastern Ukraine, claiming on Tuesday to have taken control of what was described as the strategically important logistics hub of Niu-York, part of a broader campaign to capture the entire Donetsk region.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, vowed on Wednesday that there would be no talks between the two countries until Ukraine is completely defeated.
“The empty talk of unappointed intermediaries about the wonderful peace is over,” he said on Telegram. “There will be no more negotiations until the enemy is completely defeated.”
