Ukraine Launches Largest Drone Attack On Moscow

Ukrainian drone forces on the battlefield. (Wikimedia Commons/Obviously

JAKARTA - Ukraine launched the largest drone strike since the war with Russia broke out, targeting Moscow on Tuesday, killing at least one person and destroying dozens of houses, forcing about 50 flights to be diverted from airports around the capital.

Russia, said it had destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian drones as they invaded Moscow, which has a population of more than 21 million, as well as 124 other unmanned aircraft in eight other areas.

At least one person was killed near Moscow, Russian authorities said. Three of the four Moscow airports were closed for more than six hours and nearly 50 flights were diverted.

The drone attack on Russia damaged high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district in Moscow, setting flat-flat fire, residents told Reuters.

A 46-year-old woman was killed and three people injured in Ramenskoye, Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said.

Residents said they were awakened by explosions and flames.

"I looked into the window and saw the fireball," Alexander Li, a resident of the district told Reuters.

"The window broke out due to a shock wave," he added.

Georgy, a resident who declined to give his last name, said he heard a drone outside his building in the early hours of the morning.

"I opened the curtain and the curtain hit the building right in front of my eyes, I saw everything," he said.

"I brought my family and we ran out," he added.

Ramenskoye district, about 50 km (31 miles) southeast of the Kremlin, has a population of about a quarter of a million people, according to official data.

Authorities in the Tula region, which borders the northern Moscow region, said the debris of the drone had crashed into fuel and energy facilities but the facility's "technological process" was not affected.

More than 70 unmanned aircraft were also shot down in Russia's Bryansk region and dozens more in other areas, Russia's Defense Ministry said.

No damage or casualties were reported there.

There has been no immediate comment from Ukraine on Tuesday's attack. Both sides denied targeting civilians.

Tuesday's attack follows a drone strike launched by Ukraine in early September that primarily targets Russian energy and power facilities.