Moscow under attack: Air defenses shoot down killer drones over Russian capital

Russian air defenses shot down 10 drones over Moscow and its outskirts, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a Telegram post early Wednesday morning.

“The echeloned defense of Moscow against enemy UAVs made it possible to repel all attacks. This was one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow with the help of drones of all time,” Sobyanin added.

Overall, 45 drones attacked different regions of Russia overnight, with 11 shot down over the Moscow region, 23 destroyed over the Bryansk region, six over Belgorod, three over the Kaluga region and two over Kursk, Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement, blaming Ukraine.

A missile was also shot down in the western part of Rostov region, local Governor Vasiliy Golubev said, adding that there were no victims and no destruction.  

Ukraine has not yet commented on the latest major drone attack on Russia, but did say that its forces hit an S-300 anti-aircraft missile complex in Novoshakhtinsk in Rostov, but could not yet confirm if it was destroyed.

“It should be noted that the Russian invaders also use S-300 complexes for attacks on peaceful cities of Ukraine, destroying residential buildings and terrorizing the civilian population,” the Ukrainian army said in a statement Wednesday morning.

Ukraine has increasingly taken the fight to Russia in August, and a surprise incursion — now entering its third week — across the border by Kyiv’s forces into the Kursk and Belgorod regions has caught the Kremlin flat-footed.