Russia announced on Tuesday that it had shot down five “drones” flying over the Moscow region, an attack it attributed to Kiev that the country said could only have happened with help from the United States and NATO.
Ukraine, for its part, on Tuesday referred to several Russian attacks, particularly those in the Kharkov region, in the northeast of the country, that left 38 injured, including 12 children.
The attack in Russia targeted places in the Moscow region and the surrounding area, which have been selected a few times since the beginning of the offensive in Ukraine, but without serious consequences, according to international bodies.
According to the Russian defense ministry, four drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire near the capital and a fifth was neutralized by “electronic warfare means” before crashing in the Moscow region.
The attack did not cause any casualties or damage, the ministry emphasizes.
“All attacks were repelled by anti-aircraft defenses, all detected ‘drones’ were neutralized”Moscow Mayor Serguei Sobianine said in a message published on the Telegram platform.
However, the attack disrupted the operation of Vnoukovo Airport, one of Moscow’s three major international airports, for three hours.
One of the ‘drones’ was neutralized near Koubinka, 40 kilometers from the airport.
“These attacks would not have been possible without the help of the United States and its NATO allies to the regime in Kiev”in turn assured the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Westerners “train drone operators and provide the necessary information to commit similar crimes,” he added.
Following the attack, Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced a “terrorist act” on Telegram trying to reach an area where “civil infrastructure” is located.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and to impose on Russia political and economic sanctions.
Source: DN
