Kyiv launched a 'terrorist' drone strike on Moscow airport, Kremlin says

Drone attacks have hit Russian cities during Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, but have increased in recent months. Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP

Russia said on Tuesday it had shot down five Ukrainian drones in the Moscow region, calling it a “terrorist act” that disrupted Vnukovo International Airport.

“An attempt by the Kiev regime to attack the zone, where civilian infrastructure is located, including an airport that receives international flights, is a new terrorist attack,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.

The Russian military said they shot down all five drones, and which did not there was no damage or casualties.

Four drones were destroyed by air defense systems, and the fifth was neutralized by “electronic means” before crashing, the report said.

Emergency services, citing RIA Novosti, reported that in Kubinka, about 40 kilometers from Vnukovo, one of the drones was neutralized, the work of which was briefly interrupted as a result of the attack.

Emergency services reported that one of the drones was neutralized in Kubinka

Several flights were diverted to other airports, and the Federal Air Transport Agency reported that traffic in Vnukovo resumed at one hour GMT.

The Federal Air Transport Agency reported that other airports in Moscow and the Moscow Region are operating as normal.

Two drones were shot down near the village

The state agency RIA Novosti also reported the shooting down of two drones near the village of Valuevo. in New Moscow, citing emergency services.

The drones fell into an “open field”, there were no casualties, the report said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called it “another attempt to attack Ukrainian drones.”

Drone attacks have been hitting Russian cities throughout Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, but have intensified in recent months.

Moscow and its environs, about 500 kilometers from Ukrainian borders have so far rarely been targeted.

In early May, two drones were shot down over the Kremlin, and later that month, drones hit Moscow high-rise buildings.

Early Tuesday, Kiev said that Russia launched 22 Iranian Shahed attack drones in the Sumy, Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions.

Its forces “destroyed” 16 drones, the report said.