Russia said it downed 13 drones overnight near Moscow and Sevastopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea, accusing Kyiv of being responsible for the attacks.
“In the vicinity of the city of Sevastopol, two UAVs were destroyed by air defense equipment on duty, and nine more were suppressed by electronic warfare equipment and crashed in the waters of the Black Sea without reaching their target,” the Russian defense ministry said.
There were no casualties or damage, the statement added.
Moscow has regularly blamed Ukraine for launching drone attacks deep inside Russian territory, often targeting the capital. Ukrainian officials have largely avoided taking responsibility for these strikes, the frequency of which has increased in recent weeks.
“At night, around four o’clock in the morning, the air defense forces shot down two attack UAVs flying toward the city,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a statement, adding that one drone was shot down near Moscow’s ring road, while the other was downed over the Kaluga region, which borders Moscow to the south.
State-owned newswire Ria Novosti reported that Moscow’s southern international Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports introduced temporary flight restrictions during the night, which were eventually lifted around 5 a.m. on Thursday.
Meanwhile, emergency services reported a large fire at a car repair shop near Domodedovo airport in the early hours of Thursday, according to Ria. Two blasts were heard before the fire broke out, Reuters reported.
