Extract from ABC News
Russia has accused Ukraine of attacking Moscow with at least five drones that were all either shot down or jammed, though one of the capital's main airports had to reroute flights for several hours.
Key points:
- The defence ministry says the drones were either shot down or jammed by air defence forces
- A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman says the attacks are "an act of terrorism"
- Flights at Moscow's major airport were "temporarily disrupted", the city's mayor says
Four Ukrainian drones were shot down by Moscow air defences while a fifth was jammed and crashed into the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region, the Russian defence ministry said.
No injuries have been reported.
One drone was shot down in the area of the town of Kubinka, some 63 kilometres west of Moscow, Russian state-owned newsagency RIA reported.
A Russian air base is near Kubinka.
Two drones were intercepted near a village 30km south-west of the Kremlin.
One drone was detected in the neighbouring Kaluga region.
Russia calls attacks 'act of terrorism'
Russia's foreign and defence ministries denounced the attack as "terrorism".
"The Kyiv regime's attempt to attack an area where civilian infrastructure is located, including the airport, which incidentally also receives foreign flights, is yet another act of terrorism," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said.
"The international community should realise that the United States, Britain, France — permanent members of the UN Security Council — are financing a terrorist regime," she said.
Airport operations resumed
Landings and take-offs at Moscow's Vnukovo airport were restricted for several hours.
A number of flights were diverted on their approach to other airports, including flights from Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
The airport has now resumed operations, Russia's aviation watchdog said on the Telegram messaging app.
It said landings and take-offs at the airport were restricted "for technical reasons beyond the control of the airport".
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said all drones have been eliminated.
"At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces," Mr Sobyanin said on his Telegram messaging channel.
Kyiv yet to claim attacks
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.
Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
High-profile drone attacks deep inside Russia, the world's largest country, have increased over recent months with attacks on the Kremlin in May and on Russian oil infrastructure last month.
After May's drone attack on the capital, President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was trying to scare and provoke Russia, adding that the capital's air defences would be strengthened.
Last few days of counteroffensive 'fruitful'
However, a senior Ukrainian security official said the last few days of Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia had been "particularly fruitful".
The comments by Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, were Kyiv's latest positive assessment of the month-old counterattack.
"At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine's Defence Forces are fulfilling the number one task — the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defence forces of the Russian army," Mr Danilov wrote on Twitter.
He did not provide any details from the battlefield.
Moscow has not acknowledged Ukraine's gains.
Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, still holds swathes of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his troops had made progress after a "difficult" week.
Ukraine said its troops had regained more ground on the eastern and southern fronts although Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said fighting had surged around the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May.
Ms Maliar said the Ukrainian military had taken back 37.4 square kilometres of territory overall during heavy fighting in the past week.
Military spokesperson Andriy Kovalev said Ukraine was continuing to put pressure on Russian forces north and south of Bakhmut, and had enjoyed "partial success" despite fierce Russian resistance and heavy fighting.
He said the Ukrainian military was managing to hold back an attempted advance by Russian forces in the Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka directions in eastern Ukraine.
The situation on the battlefield remains unverified, as each side says the other is suffering heavy losses.
Russian shelling killed a man and a woman in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the local prosecutor's office said.
Reuters
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