Russian authorities report intercepting 28 Ukrainian drones aimed at Moscow, leading to temporary airport closures and heightened security measures in the capital region.
Key Points
- Russian air defence systems claim to have destroyed 28 Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow.
- This marks the second consecutive day of reported drone attacks targeting the Russian capital.
- Moscow's Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo airports temporarily suspended operations due to the drone threat.
- Russian authorities are selectively switching off mobile internet in Moscow and the surrounding region as a precaution against drone attacks.
- The Russian Defence Ministry reported intercepting and destroying 280 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over several regions.
Russian air defence units have destroyed 28 Ukrainian drones heading to attack the capital on Sunday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed here.
This is a second consecutive day that Russia claimed to have shot down 16 Ukrainian drones heading to attack Moscow.
By noon on Sunday, Russian air defence units had destroyed 28 Ukrainian drones heading to attack the capital for the second day, Sobyanin said in his social media post.
The mayor, however, did not give any details of damage or casualties on the ground.
Airport Operations Disrupted
Due to the waves of drone attacks, Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo international airports in south-west and north-west of the capital had suspended operations, civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia announced.
On Saturday too, three of the four local airports located in the capital -- Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky -- had suspended their operations for several hours, disrupting air traffic.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry release on Saturday, 47 drones were destroyed as they approached Moscow.
On Saturday, between 11:00 am and 9:00 pm Moscow time, air defence systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 280 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying over the Bryansk, Kaluga, Belgorod, Tver, Smolensk, and Kursk regions, the Krasnodar Territory, and the Moscow region, the ministry said.
As part of preparedness against drone attacks, Moscow city and the capital region have been selectively switching off mobile internet, and people have been advised to use applications available offline.
