One killed near Moscow as more than 140 Ukrainian drones target Russia
A woman has been killed near Moscow after the remnants of a downed Ukrainian drone hit the apartment block where she was living and started a fire, according to Russian officials.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defences shot down 144 Ukrainian drones overnight in nine regions, with 20 alone over the Moscow region.
Moscow regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov said debris from the drone damaged at least two high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district in the early hours of Tuesday, setting several flats on fire.
A 46-year-old woman was killed in Ramenskoye after the attack caused a fire on the 11th and 12th floors of the building, Vorobyov said.
He said 43 people were evacuated to temporary accommodation centres.
Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said 12 people were injured, including two listed in critical condition.
City Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency teams had been sent to a number of locations across the region as well as to the area near the Zhukovo airport and around the Domodedovo district – the site of one of Moscow’s largest airports.
The authorities temporarily shut down three airports – Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky. Civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said 48 flights were diverted to other airports.
The Ramenskoye district, some 50km (31 miles) southeast of the Kremlin, has a population of about 250,000, according to official data.
The air attacks showed that the “Kyiv regime” is Russia’s enemy and Russia needs to keep fighting it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia’s SHOT and Baza Telegram channels, which are close to the security services, posted videos with flames billowing from the multistorey residential building, saying five flats had been destroyed.
In the region of Bryansk, close to the border with Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry said 72 drones were intercepted.
Governor Aleksander Bogomaz described the attack as “massive” but said there were no casualties or damage, according to a message on the Telegram messaging app.
Another 14 drones were intercepted over Kursk, 13 over Tula, and 25 more over five other parts of the country, the ministry said in a statement.
More than two and a half years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine has fast-tracked the development of its domestic drone industry to enable it to attack Russia’s energy, military and transport infrastructure.
Ukraine did not comment on the attack, which came as air raid warnings sounded in Kyiv amid another Russian drone assault on the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday that his country has doubled its production of weapons this year. He said Ukraine planned to build more than a million drones by the end of the year.
Yet, Ukraine continues to also lobby for more aid and weapons from its allies.
