Russian ministry of defence blames Kyiv for ‘terrorist’ Moscow attack involving eight dronesIn a statement, the Russian ministry of defence has accused Ukraine of being behind an attack on Moscow which it claimed used eight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
It wrote on Telegram:
This morning, the Kyiv regime has launched a terrorist drone attack on the city of Moscow.
Eight aircraft-type drones were employed in the attack. All enemy drones were downed.
Three of them were suppressed by electronic warfare, lost control, and deviated from the intended targets.
Five more UAVs were shot down by the Pantsir-S SAM system in Moscow region.
Moscow’s mayor has said that nobody was seriously injured in the attack, but that residents had to be evacuated from some apartments, and that two people sought medical assistance. Emergency services are working on the scene.
Part of an apartment building which was reportedly damaged by a Ukrainian drone in Moscow. Photograph: APLast month drones caused minor damage at the Kremlin, in an apparent attack which Russia blamed on Ukraine, and described as an attempt to assassinateVladimir Putin, despite him not being in the building at the time.
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Peter Beaumont
At least one of the drones used to attack the outskirts of Moscow appears to have been a Ukrainian manufactured UJ 22 drone produced by the Ukrjet company writes Peter Beaumont.
Alleged footage of the drone, captured in flight during the attack, appears to match released images of the unmanned aerial vehicle which Russia has claimed has been used in other attempted attacks.
Looking like a scaled down light aircraft, the UJ22 has a claimed range of 800km and able to fly for six hours, the UJ 22 was designed primarily as a reconnaissance and attack drone able to carry a payload of about 20 kilos, typically grenades and mines – including six RPG-7VM grenades, or four 82-mm mortar mines.
Able to take off and land on a 100m air strip, the operating range with a ground crew is believed to be about 100km. However recent use of the drones suggests that certain models have been refitted as kamikaze drones with target information pre-programmed into the aircraft.
Images of damage to buildings in Moscow from Tuesday’s drone attack appeared consistent with a small explosive payload that appears to have led to largely superficial damage.
If confirmed as a UJ 22, it would fit with an apparent pattern of recent efforts by Kyiv to hit targets deep inside Russia with drones.
In February 2023 UJ-22 crashed in Russia 100km from Moscow after managing to travel about 460km into Russian territory without being destroyed by Russia’s air defences.
The latest attack – in terms of scale at least – suggests Ukraine is becoming more ambitious in both the scope and its abilities to conduct long-range drone attacks even if the weapons involved have much smaller payloads than the Iranian-manufactured Shaheed drones being used by Russia to attack Ukraine.
The primary purpose of recent Ukrainian drone attacks deep inside Russia appears as much psychological as anything else – an attempt to bring the war in Ukraine to the doorstep of Russians.
Reuters reports that Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was briefed early in the morning about the drone attacks on Moscow and is working in the Kremlin, according to his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov also said the “Kyiv regime” was behind the attacks and added that there was no threat to Moscow residents because Russia’s air defences and military had dealt with the situation well.
Speaking to reporters, Peskov said: “It is, of course, obvious that this is an attack by the Kyiv regime.”
Peskov added that Putin does not have any plans to make a special address to the Russian people at this moment.
Ukraine has denied it was behind the today’s attacks.
Summary of the day so far … Moscow has been targeted with a large-scale drone attack for the first time in its 15-month-old war in Ukraine, marking a new inflection point in a conflict that the Kremlin said would never threaten the lives of ordinary Russians.
The Russian defence ministry said eight drones targeted the city overnight but Russian media close to the security services wrote that the number was many times higher, with more than 30 drones participating in the attack.
Three of the drones hit residential buildings in the south-west of the city but no explosions were reported. Two people were injured in the attack, said Sergei Sobyanin, the Moscow mayor, and the buildings sustained minor damage. Video showed broken windows and a blackened facade at one address hit by a drone early on Tuesday morning.
Russia blamed Kyiv for the attack. Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak denied Ukraine was involved, but said he predicted “an increase in the number of attacks”
Russia continues to pummel Ukraine with deadly missile and drone strikes on a near-daily basis. Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, faced its third air raid in 24 hours on Tuesday morning. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has confirmed that 20 residents were evacuated from a damaged building, and that one person died, four were injured. He cautioned residents against ignoring air alarms, urging residents to stay indoors, saying “do not go out to the balconies and streets to observe how the air defence works. Last night, a woman died in a house in Holosiivskyi district, who went out on the balcony to see how drones were shot down.”
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that in the last 24 hours, the Russian army shelled eight cities and towns of the Donetsk region. It states that a total of 26 civilian objects were damaged, 10 people were injured, and two people died.
Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has appointed Konstantin Molostov as chairman of the country’s state border committee. He replaces Anatoly Lappo, who has been retired from military service.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has confirmed that 20 residents were evacuated from the damaged building after last night’s attack on Kyiv, and that one person died, four were injured.
In a Telegram post confirming that he had visited the 24-story building in the Holosiivskyi district affected, he said:
Search and rescue operations have been completed. Damaged cars of residents are taken out of the yard. At night, 20 residents were evacuated from the damaged building. One person died, four were injured.
The commission is already examining the extent of the damage in order to begin restoration work as soon as possible.
In general, as a result of the night attack, one person died. Eleven were injured. Of those: six people received medical care on an outpatient basis, five were hospitalised. Currently, three people are in the city’s hospitals.
Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, visits the site of an overnight strike that left one person dead Photograph: Kyiv city auhtorityKlitschko added a warning in his message, telling residents:
The probability of air attacks is very high. Therefore, I urge the citizens of Kyiv not to neglect their own safety, not to ignore the alarm signals!
And do not go out to the balconies and streets to observe how the air defence works. Because at night, a woman died in a house in Holosiivskyi district, who went out on the balcony to see how drones were shot down.
Klitschko visits residents of a Kyiv apartment that was struck overnight. Photograph: Kyiv city authorityAndrei Krasov, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma defence committee in Russia, has been quoted by Tass saying that the drone attack on Moscow this morning had been intended to spread panic, but had failed.
On the morning after a night in which Ukraine claimed Russia launched 31 drones at Kyiv, resulting in at least one civilian death, Krasov said Russia’s armed forces “use weapons and military equipment only in relation to military facilities, in relation to military infrastructure” while accusing Kyiv of trying “to strike at civilian objects and sow panic”.
He said Ukraine intended to cause fear among residents not only of Moscow and the Moscow region, but also in other regions.
“But this action, which they so carefully planned, fell through,” he added, saying “The Russian Federation has rich experience in conducting counter-terrorist operations. We gained this experience in the fight against terrorists in the North Caucasus, in Syria. We have rich combat experience. We will apply this experience properly now.”
A worker inspects the damaged facade of a multi-storey apartment building after the reported drone attack in Moscow. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty ImagesThe UN has recorded over 18,000 civilian casualties, including more than 6,660 people killed, since Russian launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has attacked Kyiv with missiles and drones for three consecutive days.
Kyiv residents shelter inside a subway station during yesterday’s Russian daytime missile attack on Ukraine’s capital. Photograph: Alina Smutko/ReutersBelarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has appointed Konstantin Molostov as chairman of the country’s state border committee, Reuters reports the Belta news agency said on Tuesday.
He replaces Anatoly Lappo, who has been retired from military service, Belta said. The state border committee is responsible for ensuring border security.
The new appointment comes amid heightened tensions with neighbouring Poland. Warsaw said last week it would close its eastern border to Belarusian and Russian freight vehicles.
Russia used Belarus as a launching pad in February 2022 last year for its failed attempt to capture Kyiv in Ukraine.
Our video team have put together this report on the overnight strikes in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
Kyiv faces third wave of drone strikes in 24 hours – videoA Ukrainian presidential aide denied Kyiv was directly involved in a drone attack on Moscow on Tuesday, but predicted an increase in such attacks.
Russia said Ukraine had launched its biggest drone attack on Moscow but that air defences destroyed all eight of the drones.
Reuters reports Ukrainian presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, told the Breakfast Show YouTube channel “regarding the attacks: of course we are pleased to watch and predict an increase in the number of attacks. But of course we have nothing directly to do with this.”
Moscow mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, has said that residents are beginning to move back into their apartments after they were evacuated earlier after drones attacks. He posted to Telegram to say:
Emergency services have taken all the necessary measures to study the circumstances of buildings damaged by unmanned aerial vehicles. [Having been] evacuated for the purpose of unhindered work of special services, residents are beginning to return to their homes. Residents of the building on Leninsky Prospekt will be the first to return to their apartments. Specialists have been instructed to eliminate minor damages in buildings as soon as possible.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that in the last 24 hours, the Russian army shelled eight cities and towns of the Donetsk region.
It states that a total of 26 civilian objects were damaged, ten people were injured, and two people died.
The claims have not been independently verified. Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions which the Russian Federation claimed to have annexed last year.
Here are some more of the images from Kyiv overnight, showing the impact of the overnight strike on local residents.
Residents react outside a multistorey residential building, partially destroyed after a night drone attack on Kyiv. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty ImagesA woman with a dog looks at her apartment building damaged during a drone strike. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/ReutersPeople embrace each other near the damaged residential building. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesA video clip purported to be from the site is being widely shared on social media, showing two children discussing the events, with one asking “How did we even survive there” and the other replying “I don’t know”. They are identified as being six and eight years old.