By Cheta Enyoghasi
The launch of Ukraine’s largest drone attack on Russia, killing at least one and damaging dozens of homes in the Moscow region, has forced around 50 flights to be diverted from airports around Moscow.
Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power, said it had destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian attack drones as they swarmed over the Moscow region, which has a population of more than 21 million.
At least one person was killed near Moscow, and three of Moscow’s four airports were closed for more than six hours while nearly 50 flights were diverted.
Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov said that the drone attack was another reminder of the real nature of Ukraine’s political leadership, which he said was made up of Russia’s enemies.
Kyiv said Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, had attacked it overnight with 46 drones, of which 38 were destroyed.
The drone attacks damaged high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district of the Moscow region, setting flats on fire. A 46-year-old woman was killed and three people were wounded in Ramenskoye.
More than 70 drones were also downed over Russia’s Bryansk region and tens more over other regions, Russia’s defence ministry said. There was no damage or casualties reported there.
As Russia advances in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has taken the war to Russia with a cross-border attack into Russia’s western Kursk region that began on Aug. 6.
Both sides have turned cheap commercial drones into deadly weapons while ramping up their own production and assembly to attack targets including tanks and energy infrastructure such as refineries and airfields.
President Vladimir Putin has called Ukrainian drone attacks that target civilian infrastructure such as nuclear power plants “terrorism” and has vowed a response. Moscow and other big Russian cities have largely been insulated from the war.
Russia itself has hit Ukraine with thousands of missiles and drones in the last two-and-a-half years, killing thousands of civilians, wrecking much of the country’s energy system, and damaging commercial and residential properties across the country.
Ukraine says it has a right to strike back deep into Russia, though Kyiv’s Western backers have said they do not want a direct confrontation between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.
