One killed in Moscow as dozens of Ukrainian drones target Russia

Official says woman died when debris from destroyed drone hit an apartment block starting a fire.

Moscow has come under sporadic attack since Russia began its full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 [File: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters]Published On 10 Sep 202410 Sep 2024

One person has been killed in Moscow after the remnants of a downed Ukrainian drone hit the apartment block where he was living and started a fire, according to Russian officials.

Moscow regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov said debris from the drone damaged at least two high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district in the early hours of Tuesday, setting several flats on fire.

City mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency teams had been sent to a number of locations across the region as well as to the area near the Zhukovo airport and around the Domodedovo district – the site of one of Moscow’s largest airports. More than 30 flights were suspended.

Russia said its air defences shot down more than 70 Ukrainian drones during the night with at least 15 intercepted in and around Moscow.

The Ramenskoye district, some 50km (31 miles) southeast of the Kremlin, has a population of about 250,000 people, according to official data.

Russia’s SHOT and Baza Telegram channels, which are close to Russia’s security services, posted videos with flames billowing from a multistorey residential building, saying that five flats had been destroyed.

In the region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, “59 enemy aircraft-type UAVs have been intercepted and destroyed”, Governor Aleksander Bogomaz said on Telegram.

He described the attack as “massive” but said there were no casualties or damage.

Two more Ukrainian drones were intercepted in the Tula region, south of Moscow, Russian official news agency TASS reported.

More than two and a half years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine has fast-tracked the development of its domestic drone industry to enable it to attack Russia’s energy, military and transport infrastructure.

Ukraine did not comment on the attack, which came as air raid warnings sounded in Kyiv amid another Russian drone assault on the Ukrainian capital.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies