MOSCOW, Sept 10 (Askume) – Ukraine struck the Russian capital on Tuesday in its biggest ever drone attack, killing at least one person, destroying dozens of homes and forcing the diversion of nearly 50 flights in and around the Moscow region.
Russia, the world’s largest nuclear power, said it had destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian attack drones hovering over the Moscow region. The Moscow region has a population of more than 21 million. Apart from this, it destroyed 124 drones in 8 other areas.
Russian officials said at least one person was killed near Moscow. Three of Moscow’s four airports were closed for more than six hours and about 50 flights were diverted.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the drone attack was another reminder of the true nature of Ukraine’s political leadership, which is made up of Russia’s enemies.
“The night attacks on residential areas cannot be linked to military operations,” Peskov said.
“The Kiev regime is constantly showing its true nature. They are our enemies and we must continue to take special military action to protect ourselves from such actions,” he said, using terms used by Moscow to describe the war in Ukraine.
Kiev says Russia will launch a military operation in February 2022Thousands of soldiers sent to Ukraine overnightIt was attacked by 46 drones, of which 38 were destroyed .
Drone strikes over Russia damaged high-rise apartment buildings in the Raminskoye district of the Moscow region and set apartments on fire, residents told Askume.
Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said a 46-year-old woman was killed and three people were injured in Ramensky.
Residents reported being woken up by explosions and fire.
“I looked out the window and saw a fireball,” area resident Alexander Lee told Askume. “Because I was scared, I flew out the window.”
One resident, Georgie, who asked not to be named, said she heard a drone outside her building in the early hours of the morning.
“I opened the curtains and the building was right in front of me and I saw it all,” he said, “I grabbed my family and we ran outside.”
According to official figures, it is about 50 kilometers from the Kremlin. Ramenskoye District is located to the southeast (31 miles) and has a population of about 2.5 million.
The Russian Defense Ministry said more than 70 drones were shot down in Russia’s Bryansk region, and dozens in other regions. There are no reports of any damage or casualties.
As Russia advances into eastern Ukraine , Kiev escalates the war to Russia, launching a cross-border offensive against the Kursk region in western Russia starting on 6 August, and carrying out massive drone attacks on Russian territory.
Drone Warfare
The war is fought mainly along a 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) heavily fortified border in southern and eastern Ukraine, using mostly artillery and drones and involving millions of troops.
Both Moscow and Kiev are trying to buy and develop new drones, deploy them in innovative ways, and find new ways to destroy them — using everything from shotguns to advanced electronic jamming systems.
Both sides have transformed cheap commercial drones into lethal weapons and ramped up their production and assembly efforts to attack tanks and energy infrastructure such as oil refineries and airports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has sought to protect Moscow from the rigours of war, has called Ukrainian drone attacks on civilian infrastructure such as nuclear power plants “terrorism” and vowed to respond.
Moscow and other major Russian cities were largely untouched by the war.
Over the past two and a half years, Russia has launched thousands of missiles and drones at Ukraine, killing thousands of civilians, destroying much of the country’s energy systems and damaging commercial and residential properties across the country.
Ukraine says it has the right to penetrate deep into Russia, though Kiev’s Western backers say they do not want a direct confrontation between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.
Ukraine had no immediate comment on Tuesday’s attack. Both sides deny targeting civilians.
Tuesday’s attack follows a series of drone strikes in Ukraine in early September , mostly targeting Russian energy and power facilities.
Authorities in the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to the north, said the drone’s debris fell on a fuel and energy facility but that the facility’s “technological processes” were not affected.
