For months, Ukraine has targeted Russian refineries and airfields with drones but assaults on the capital – some 300 miles from the Ukrainian border – have been rarer. One Russian dissident told The Independent that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was seeking to land a “serious psychological blow to Russians”.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin accused Ukraine of carrying out “one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever” in yesterday morning’s move.
Russia’s defence ministry said its air systems destroyed a total of 45 drones over its territory, including 11 over the Moscow region, 23 over the border region of Bryansk, six over the Belgorod region, three over the Kaluga region and two over the Kursk region.
Mr Sobyanin also claimed some of the drones were shot down just 24 miles south of the Kremlin.
“Ukraine is doing everything it can to shift the attention of Russian authorities from its own territory to the territory of the aggressor country,” said Yevgenia Chirikova, a Russian dissident and friend of the late imprisoned opposition leader Alexander Navalny who now helps support the pro-Ukrainian Russian militias in Ukraine.
“Such drone attacks have been increasing recently, and I believe their intensity will continue to grow.”
This story is from the August 22, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the August 22, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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