RT quoted Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin as saying that Russian air defense forces prevented one of Ukraine's largest unmanned aerial vehicle ( UAV ) attacks on Moscow. There were no reports of casualties or damage on the ground.
Mr. Sobyanin reported the destruction of the first UAV near the city of Podolsk, about 40 km south of Moscow, at about 3 a.m. on August 21. Soon after, he announced that two other UAVs had been shot down in the area, adding that preliminary information showed no casualties or damage.
In a series of subsequent announcements over about an hour, Mr. Sobyanin said several more drones had been destroyed, bringing the total to 11. He did not specify exactly where the UAVs were shot down or what the target of the raid was.
“Moscow's existing multi-layered defense system against enemy UAVs has successfully repelled all attacks... This is one of the largest drone attacks on Moscow ever now. We are still monitoring the situation,” Sobyanin said.
Hours later, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Kiev authorities had attempted to carry out a “terrorist attack” using drones, adding that 11 UAVs were shot down in Moscow province alone. .
The ministry noted that a total of 45 drones were destroyed in the Russian sky overnight, most of them shot down over the border area of Bryansk province.
Ukraine has periodically targeted the Russian capital - located more than 500 kilometers from the front lines - with drone strikes, although most of the UAVs were disabled before reaching their targets. Some attacks targeted government buildings and Moscow's IT parks.
One of the most high-profile attacks took place in May 2023, when Russia accused Ukraine of launching two drones into the Kremlin intending to assassinate President Vladimir Putin . The Russian leader was not present at the Kremlin at the time.
