Ukraine launched drone strike near Moscow’s Defense HQ, Russia claims

Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on its capital city of Moscow early Monday, with one of the drones landing near the Defense Ministry’s main headquarters.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the military jammed the two attacking drones, forcing them to crash into two non-residential buildings. Local Russian media reported one fell on the Komsomolsky Highway near Moscow’s main Defense Ministry building, and the other drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, destroying several floors at the top of the structure.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties.

The alleged attack comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has continued for more than 510 days and as the Russian military launched new strikes on port infrastructure in southern Ukraine.

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Ukrainian authorities, who do not usually claim responsibility for strikes on Russian soil, have not said if they organized the drone attack, which was the second on the Russian capital this month.

On July 4, the Russian military said five drones attempted an attack on Moscow. During the incident, Russia claimed it downed four of the five drones with air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow. A fifth was jammed electronically and was forced down, military officials said. The raid prompted authorities to temporarily restrict flights at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport.

Russian authorities said Monday that another Ukrainian drone attack in Crimea struck an ammunition depot and forced a halt in traffic on a major nearby highway.

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Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, said an evacuation of several villages was also ordered within a 3-mile radius of the attacked depot. The military also shot down or jammed 11 attacking drones, Aksyonov said.

The reported attack was similar to one launched just days earlier, on Saturday, when drones targeted another ammunition depot in Crimea, sending huge plumes of black smoke skyward. It also prompted an evacuation of residents.

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Russian forces responded to Monday’s attack by targeting port infrastructure along the Danube River in southern Ukraine with exploding drones. The attack left four workers injured and destroyed a grain hangar, the Ukrainian military said. Ukrainian forces downed three of the attacking drones.

The strike was the latest in a barrage of attacks specifically aimed at damaging critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine. The Kremlin said the strikes were retribution for Ukraine’s attack last week on the crucial Kerch Bridge, which connects mainland Russia with Crimea.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the Aspen Security Forum over the weekend, that the bridge must be “neutralized” as Russia uses it to ferry military supplies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.