An apartment building that was reportedly damaged by a Ukrainian drone. © Uncredited/AP
According to Russian sources, there have been drone attacks in Moscow. The Russian Ministry of Defense is now blaming Ukraine. However, it does not provide any evidence.
Moscow - Ukraine has denied involvement in the drone strike on Russia's capital Moscow and reacted with ridicule. "Of course, we are not directly involved in this," said the adviser to the presidential office in Kiev, Mykhailo Podolyak, on the breakfast radio of the Kremlin-critical Russian journalist Alexander Plyushchev. He scoffed that Russian drones may have returned to their senders.
"You know that we are approaching the era of artificial intelligence. Maybe not all drones are ready to attack Ukraine and they want to go back to their creators and ask: Why are you sending us against the children of Ukraine? On Kiev? And so on," Podolyak said.
At the same time, the Ukrainian government advisor predicted that the number of attacks on Russian territory would probably continue to increase. "All people who believe (...) that they can destroy another sovereign state with absolute impunity have not yet understood after 15 months that they cannot repeat 2014." At that time, Russia had annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
Accusations from Russia
Russia has blamed Ukraine for the drone attacks on Moscow - and spoke of an "act of terrorism". "This morning, the Kyiv regime committed an act of terrorism with unmanned aerial vehicles on objects belonging to the city of Moscow," the Russian Defense Ministry said. A total of eight drones were used, all of which have now been destroyed. Three were deviated from their original trajectory, the remaining five were shot down by Russian anti-aircraft defenses, it said.
Police are cordoning off an area where investigators are collecting parts of a Ukrainian drone that reportedly damaged a residential building. © Uncredited/AP
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, declares that the air defense was active: "On the approach to Moscow, some drones were shot down." Photos and videos of a column of smoke were shared on social networks. According to unconfirmed reports from Russian Telegram channels, a total of around 25 unmanned aerial vehicles are said to have flown in, the majority of which were repelled.
Russia has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine for more than 15 months. In recent weeks, shelling and drone attacks have also increased in Russian regions. Probably the most spectacular incident occurred in early May, when two flying objects were shot down directly above the Kremlin. Moscow blamed the leadership in Kiev for the alleged assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin, which denied any involvement. Many international observers believe it is likely that the Kremlin attack could have been orchestrated by Moscow itself to justify the brutal attacks on Ukraine. Dpa