Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has said that 40 UAVs were intercepted approaching Moscow, with disruptions reported at all major airports
Russian air defenses have brought down a total of 485 Ukrainian drones across the country over the past 48 hours, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has stated.
In a post on its Telegram channel on Thursday, it said that the massive air raid started on Tuesday evening, with Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions, which all share a border with Ukraine, bearing the brunt of the attack.
Orel Region, which is located close to the border, has reported downing around 135 incoming Ukrainian UAVs.
Meanwhile, Moscow Region, which lies relatively far from the front line, similarly endured a barrage of 63 fixed-wing drones over the same period, the Russian Defense Ministry reported in its daily update.
Apart from that, air defenses are said to have intercepted a number of JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) guided bombs and HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) missiles.
Over the past several days, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported the downing of at least 40 Ukrainian drones approaching the Russian capital. He did not mention any casualties or material damage on the ground.
Residents of the area close to Moscow have been posting videos online, appearing to show Ukrainian UAVs flying toward the city. At least one clip purports to show the moment a drone was destroyed in mid-air.
In a post on her Telegram channel, Evgeniya Khrustaleva, the head of Domodedovo district, wrote that a drone fragment fell on the grounds of a kindergarten in the area on Wednesday, triggering the evacuation of the children and staff.
Commissioner for children’s rights in Moscow Region, Ksenia Mishonova, told TASS that “there were 98 children in the [kindergarten] at the time of the incident.” She added that none of them sustained any injuries.
Russian media reported that Moscow’s Domodedovo, Zhukovsky, and Sheremetyevo Airports repeatedly halted their operations amid the air raid, causing huge flight delays.
Similar scenes played out in all of Moscow’s major airports earlier this month, days ahead of the festivities commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.