Russian officials have accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on a building in Moscow, leading to an explosion that reverberated across the city’s business district. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that the air defenses successfully downed the drone, causing its debris to fall near Moscow’s Expo Center.
This incident is the latest in a series of drone attacks on the Russian capital. Unverified videos circulating on social media depicted thick grey smoke billowing into the night sky over Moscow.
As of now, there has been no official response from Ukraine. Kyiv officials have previously refrained from acknowledging any attacks on targets within Moscow. The attack transpired around 04:00 local time (01:00 GMT), as stated by Russia’s defense ministry through Telegram.
The ministry reported that after activating the city’s air defense systems, the drone altered its flight trajectory and subsequently crashed into a non-residential structure along the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, an area in Moscow that houses several government buildings. Fortunately, there were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Expo Center, situated less than 5km (3.1 miles) from the Kremlin, serves as a significant exhibition space for conferences and conventions. A witness in the vicinity described the incident to Reuters news agency as causing a “powerful explosion.”
The Russian defense ministry clarified that the debris did not ignite a fire. Mayor Sobyanin further conveyed that the drone had inflicted “no significant damage” to the building. However, a Russian state-owned news agency, Tass, reported partial outer wall collapse, encompassing an area of around 30 sq m (323 sq ft).
Following the incident, Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport temporarily suspended operations but resumed shortly afterward. While Moscow had remained largely unaffected by the Ukrainian conflict until earlier this year, it has recently become a target for drone strikes.
In May, a series of strikes resulted in damage to several buildings. Furthermore, in July, drones collided with the glass facade of a skyscraper in close proximity to the Expo Center.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously commented that the war was “returning to the territory of Russia,” deeming it an “inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair process.”
Interestingly, just before the Moscow attack, Russia’s defense ministry reported the destruction of a Ukrainian sea drone during an attempted assault on Russia’s naval fleet in the Black Sea.