Moscow can no longer consider itself safe from the most serious conflict in Europe since the Second World War. As before other Russian cities, usually near the border with Ukraine, this Tuesday it has been the target of enemy drones. Anti-aircraft defense shot down the drones that reached the Russian capital, the Defense Ministry said, but several residential buildings were hit. According to the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, there is minor damage and only two injuries, one of whom needed to be hospitalized.
The drone attack occurred “early in the morning” on May 30, the city councilor reported on his Telegram channel. As a result of the attack, “several buildings suffered minor damage,” he said. Emergency services are on the scene and “so far, no one has been seriously injured,” he added.
At least two residential buildings were affected, in two important streets of the city: Lenin (or Léninski) avenue and Trade Union (Profsoyúznaya) street. “Some apartments have broken window panes,” a witness was quoted as saying by the Tass agency.
According to the Telegram channel “Shot”, another device caused damage to yet another street, in the town of Moskovski, near the Vnukovo airport.
“For security reasons, during the work of the emergency services, measures were carried out to evacuate residents from several entrances in two buildings affected by the impact of a drone. Immediately after the completion of the special services , residents will be able to return to their apartments,” added the mayor.
According to the Telegram channel “112”, a drone hit an apartment on Lenin Avenue on a 14th floor. The drone was carrying three explosive devices. Mayor Sobyanin said that two were injured in the attack, one of whom needed to be admitted to a hospital.
The RBK newspaper cites sources assuring that the drones were homemade and had low-power explosives attached.
The authorities of the Moscow Province, which surrounds the capital but is a different entity, have also been put on alert. “This morning, residents of some areas of the Moscow region could hear the sounds of explosions. Our air defense is working. Approaching Moscow, several drones were shot down. I ask the inhabitants to remain calm. All emergency services are working. We will report,” wrote its governor, Andrei Vorobyov.
Anti-aircraft defense systems shot down all attacking drones against Moscow and the province. In total, according to the Defense Ministry, eight drones were killed. “Three of them were suppressed with electronic warfare systems, lost control and strayed from their intended targets,” the department said in a statement. “Five others were shot down by the Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system in the Moscow region,” it added.
It is not the first time that a drone has reached the capital or the province. But it was the time that the Ukrainian drones have hit the hardest.
At the beginning of the month, on May 3, two drones reached the same Kremlin compound. No one was hurt, there was no damage. Russian President Vladimir Putin was not in the compound at the time of the attack. The Russian leader’s office said what happened was “a planned terrorist act and assassination attempt on the president” by the “Kyiv regime.”
The Russian Defense Ministry, which accused Ukraine of carrying out a “terrorist attack” against Moscow, spoke in similar terms on Tuesday.
