Moscow [Russia], July 31: A night-time attack on Moscow by three Ukrainian drones injured one person, damaged buildings and forced the temporary closure of an airport, Russian officials said on Sunday.
Two drones were brought down over the Moscow City business district by electronic jamming while another was shot down over the greater Moscow region by anti-aircraft fire, the Russian Defence Ministry said. Photos showed severe damage to a building in Moscow City. Broken glass littered the street below.
Several ministries are located in the district, while a major skyscraper project is still under development. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin spoke of "insignificant damage" to the facades of two office buildings.
The Defence Ministry held the "Kiev regime" responsible.
State-run news agency TASS reported that a security guard had been injured. Moscow's Vnukovo airport to the south-west of the Russian capital was temporarily closed for departures and arrivals. Flights had to be diverted, while operations continued at other airports in the region. Moscow has been the target of several drone attacks in recent months. Kiev does not usually claim responsibility.
For 17 months the Russian military has bombarded Ukraine with drones, rockets and cruise missiles, causing massive death and damage in the Ukrainian capital and in other Ukrainian cities.
The war continued unabated in the south and east of Ukraine. The Defence Ministry in Moscow said Russian air defences downed 25 Ukrainian drones over the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. There were no injuries or damage to property, it said. Many Russians are currently holidaying in Crimea, a popular summertime resort that was illegally annexed by Moscow's forces in 2014.
On Saturday, Russian missile strikes on Zaporizhzhya and Sumy killed four people, according to Ukrainian officials. Pope Francis meanwhile called on Russia to rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which had allowed the safe export to global markets of millions of tons of badly needed Ukrainian grain. "I appeal to my brothers, the rulers of the Russian Federation, that the Black Sea initiative be restored and that the grain be transported safely," the pope told some 11,000 faithful in St Peter's Square in Rome on Sunday.
Source: Qatar Tribune