Drone attack on Moscow causes flights to be diverted from international airport, says Russia

Moscow blames Ukraine for ‘act of terrorism’, as two die in Russian shelling of Kherson
Noctilucent clouds are seen in Moscow
Three drones were intercepted in the skies over Moscow
REUTERS
Matt Watts4 July 2023

Russia on Tuesday said that Ukraine had launched a drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region that disrupted flights at one of the capital’s main airports.

At least three drones were intercepted in the skies over the Moscow region - including two just 30 km (19 miles) southwest of the Kremlin, Russian news agencies said.

One drone was detected in the neighbouring Kaluga region.

Landings and takeoffs at Moscow’s Vnukovo were restricted for several hours early on Tuesday before normal operations resumed after 5am.

A number of flights were diverted on their approach to other airports. Moscow claimed the attack was “an act of terrorism”.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

“At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram messaging channel. “All detected drones have been eliminated.”

There were no casualties reported, he added.

One drone was shot down in the area of the town of Kubinka, some 63 km (40 miles) west of Moscow, RIA reported. A Russian air base is near Kubinka.

Two drones were shot down near the village of Valuevo, the RIA news agency reported. The village is about 30 km (19 miles) southwest of the Kremlin.

One was in the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region.

Meanwhile in Ukraine a man and a woman died in Russian shelling of Ukraine's southern city of Kherson, the local prosecutor's office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The number of wounded is being ascertained. Damage to property has also been reported, it said.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in