Two drones crashed into non-residential buildings in Moscow in the early hours of Monday morning, Russian officials said, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre.
Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said the drone strikes in the Russian capital hit buildings around 4am local time, adding that there were no casualties.
Officials said the drones, which they described as Ukrainian, hit a business centre on Likhacheva Avenue and another building on Komsomolsky Avenue, less than 2 miles from the defence ministry’s headquarters.
“A Kyiv regime attempt to carry out a terrorist act using two drones on objects on the territory of the city of Moscow was stopped,” Russia’s defence ministry said.
“Two Ukrainian drones were suppressed and crashed. There are no casualties.”
Images of one crash site showed damage to the top floors of a high-rise glass office building and damage to the roof of a low-standing building at the other.
Kyiv is yet to comment on the attack which the Russian ministry described as “terrorism”.
Ukraine typically declines to claim responsibility for attacks on Russia or Russian-annexed Crimea, though Kyiv officials have frequently celebrated such attacks with cryptic or mocking remarks.
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of a series of drone attacks on its territory in recent months, including a drone strike on the Kremlin.
Monday’s attack came one day after Kyiv vowed to “retaliate” for a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea city of Odesa that killed one person and damaged a historic cathedral.
Speaking during his nightly address on Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine will “definitely respond to the Russian terrorists”.
“They will definitely feel this,” Ukrainian president added. “The target of all these missiles is not just cities, villages or people. Their target is humanity and the foundations of our entire European culture.”
Also on Monday, the head of Russian-occupied Crimea said that an ammunition depot on the peninsula was hit during an overnight Ukrainian drone attack, forcing a temporary halt in traffic on a major highway and a railway crossing. Again, there was no comment from Ukraine.
Russia seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of the country.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, said authorities also ordered the evacuation of several villages within a 3-mile radius of the depot that was hit.
Aksyonov said the military shot down or jammed 11 attacking drones, while the defence ministry said later that 11 of the 17 attacking drones were jammed and another three were shot down.
It was the second similar attack on Crimea in three days. On Saturday, Aksyonov said another drone attack caused an explosion at an ammunition depot in central Crimea, leading to a brief halting of traffic on the Kerch bridge, a highly important infrastructure project that links Russia to occupied Crimea.
Ukraine has recently stepped up its attacks on Crimea, targeting the Kerch Bridge which plays a vital logistical role in the Kremlin’s war effort.
Last Monday, Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out twin explosions on the bridge, closing the main conduit for Russian road traffic to the annexed peninsula.
Zelenskiy last week called the Kerch Bridge a legitimate military target that “brings war, not peace.”
“This is the route used to feed the war with ammunition and this is being done on a daily basis. And it militarises the Crimean peninsula,” said Zelenskiy.
English (US)