Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a terrorist attack after drones reportedly attacked Moscow early Tuesday morning, causing some damage to buildings.
The Russian defense ministry said on Telegram that Kyiv had staged a “terrorist attack” using at least eight drones. Russia however said it shot down the drones in what one politician called the worst attack on the capital since World War Two.
Since Russia sent troops into its neighbor in February last year, the war has largely been fought inside Ukraine, though Moscow has reported some attacks on its territory including an alleged assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the early morning drone assault had injured two people, while some residents in two lightly damaged apartment blocks were briefly evacuated.
Russia’s defense ministry said eight drones were sent by Kyiv and all shot down, but Baza, a Telegram channel with links to the security services, said more than 25 drones were involved. Video on social media showed one apparently being hit with a plume of smoke rising over the Moscow skyline.
Lawmaker Maxim Ivanov told Reuters it was the most serious assault on Moscow since the Nazis in World War Two, saying no citizen could now avoid “the new reality”.
“You will either defeat the enemy as a single fist with our Motherland, or the indelible shame of cowardice, collaboration and betrayal will engulf your family,” he said.
Two weeks ago, two drones exploded over the Kremlin in an attack Russia also blamed on Kyiv and said was aimed at Putin.
At a messy stalemate for most of 2023 with Russian troops occupying some eastern Ukrainian regions, the war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted millions, reduced cities to ruins and caused havoc in the global economy.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian defense forces said they shot down more than 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
One person died and four were injured when debris from a destroyed Russian projectile hit a high-rise apartment building sparking a fire, Ukrainian officials said. Two upper floors of the building were destroyed with people possibly still under rubble.
Neither side confirmed targeting each other’s capitals.
Russia has attacked Kyiv 17 times in May with drones or missiles, mostly at night, in an apparent attempt to undermine Ukrainians’ will to fight after more than 15 months of war.
“These missile attacks of a fairly dense frequency are aimed specifically at exhausting both our air defense forces and our physical and moral strength,” said Natalya Gumenyuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command.
