Moscow has been targeted with a large-scale drone attack for the first time in its 15-month-old war in Ukraine, marking a new inflection point in a conflict that the Kremlin said would never threaten the lives of ordinary Russians.
Russia continues to pummel Ukraine with deadly missile and drone strikes on a near-daily basis. Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, faced its third air raid in 24 hours on Tuesday morning.
Video posted on social media early on Tuesday showed one low-flying drone exploding in a field outside Moscow, and others flying over houses in the city’s expensive Rublyovka district or tower flats in south-west neighbourhoods. Another video from Moscow’s outskirts showed a Pantsir surface-to-air missile system firing at a target nearby.
The Russian defence ministry said eight drones targeted the city overnight. In a television appearance on Tuesday, Putin praised Moscow’s air defences and said Kyiv was trying to scare Russians by striking civilian targets.
At least one of the drones appears to have been a Ukrainian-manufactured UJ 22, produced by the Ukrjet company.
Credit: theguardian.com
