RUSSIA SAID TODAY that it had downed five Ukrainian drones in the Moscow region, calling it a “terrorist act” that disrupted the functioning of the Vnukovo international airport.

“An attempt by the Kyiv regime to attack a zone where civil infrastructure is located, including an airport that receives international flights, is a new terrorist act,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.

Emergency services cited by the RIA Novosti news agency said one of the drones was neutralised at Kubinka, about 40 kilometres from Vnukovo, whose functioning was briefly interrupted by the attack.

Several flights were redirected to other airports and Russia’s air transport agency said traffic at Vnukovo resumed at 05.00am GMT.

One drone was “shot down” in the Kaluga region, around 190 kilometres from the capital, state media group TASS said.

According to “preliminary reports”, the three drones were heading toward Moscow, TASS said.

The agency quoted an unnamed source as saying all five drones were fixed-wing, and added there had been no casualties.

RIA Novosti also reported that two drones had been downed near the village of Valuevo in New Moscow, citing emergency services.

The drones had fallen into an “open field” and no casualties had been reported, it said.

The reports did not say where the drones had originated.

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

Moscow and its environs, lying some 500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, have up to now been rarely targeted.

In early May, two drones were shot down above the Kremlin, and later the same month drones hit Moscow high-rises.

– © AFP 2023