Air traffic in the Russian capital was suspended for hours.
The Russian Air Force shot down eleven drones targeting Moscow on Wednesday night. The Ministry of Defense announced in a telegram that they were rendered harmless in the capital area. A total of 45 flying objects launched by Ukraine were destroyed. Some of them fell in the Podolsk district, which is a few dozen kilometers south of the Moscow city limits, according to Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
Sobyanin spoke about one of the largest drone strikes ever in Moscow. There were temporary restrictions on the operation of the city’s three airports during the night. The restrictions apply for four hours until 6:30 a.m. (local time) at Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, the aviation authority announced in Telegram. Operations at the main Sheremetyevo airport are not restricted.
According to the ministry, 23 and six drones were shot down in the Bryansk and Belgorod border regions, and three drones in the Kaluga region. Over the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops entered, two. They were able to neutralize only the number of objects Russian officials typically flew and were able to remain secretive about damage to military facilities. In this case, a rocket was launched in the Rostov area in the southern part of Russia. In all cases, according to initial findings, there was no loss of life or destruction.
Since the February 2022 Russian invasion, Ukraine has been subject to nightly airstrikes targeting, among other things, critical energy infrastructure. On Wednesday night, explosions were also reported in the western Ukrainian region of Khmelnytskyi. (APA/DPA/Reuters)