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Russia’s air defenses on Tuesday thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow that prompted authorities to briefly shut down one of the city’s international airports, officials said, with Western analysis saying Russia managed to slow down its recent Kiev counterattack.
The drone attack, which followed similar previous raids on the Russian capital, was the first known attack on the Russian capital since a failed rebellion launched 11 days earlier by mercenary commander Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Wagner’s soldiers marched into Moscow in the biggest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the more than two decades of his rule, albeit short-lived.
Authorities in Ukraine, who generally avoid commenting on attacks on Russian soil, have not said whether they launched a drone strike.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that four out of five drones were shot down by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow, while the fifth plane was disabled by electronic warfare and forced to land.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no injuries or damage.
The drone attack prompted authorities to temporarily restrict flights at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport and divert flights to two other major airports in Moscow. Vnukovo is located about 15 kilometers (9 miles) southwest of Moscow.
In May, two daring drone attacks rocked the Russian capital, in what appeared to be Kiev’s deepest blows on Russia.
The raid comes as Ukrainian forces continue to probe Russian defenses in the south and east of their country in the early stages of the counter-offensive.
Oleksey Danilov, secretary of the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, accused the military of currently focusing on destroying Russian equipment and personnel, and claimed that the last few days of fighting had been particularly “productive”.
He provided no evidence for his claim and it was not possible to verify it independently.
The Ukrainians encounter minefields, anti-tank trenches and other obstacles, as well as layered defensive lines up to 20 kilometers (12 mi) deep in places as they try to dislodge the Russian occupiers.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that Kremlin forces had “improved their tactics aimed at slowing down Ukrainian armored counter-offensive operations in southern Ukraine”.
The assessment said Moscow focused on using anti-tank mines to slow the attack, leaving the attackers at the mercy of Russian drones, helicopters and artillery.
“Although Russia had some success with this approach in the early stages of Ukraine’s counter-offensive, its forces still had major weaknesses, particularly exhausted units and a shortage of artillery ammunition,” the assessment said.
Western analysts say the counterattack, even if it rebounds, will not end the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its missile and drone strikes behind the front line.
Oleksandr Lysenko, mayor of the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, said three people were killed and 21 wounded in a Russian drone strike on Monday that destroyed two apartment buildings.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack also destroyed the regional headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine, the country’s main intelligence agency. He said the country needed more air defense systems to help fend off Russian raids.
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