Russia blamed Ukraine for a drone attack on the outskirts of Moscow on Tuesday morning, which grounded flights at an airport.
“An attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack by five unmanned aerial vehicles against facilities in Moscow region and New Moscow was foiled this morning,” Russia’s defense ministry claimed in a statement.
Four drones were destroyed over the Russian capital, and another was taken down over the city of Odintsovo, in the Moscow region, the statement said. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said no one was injured.
Flights from Moscow’s international Vnukovo Airport were “temporarily rerouted” for “security reasons” on Tuesday morning, Sobyanin said, adding that all restrictions had been lifted as of 8 a.m. local time (7 a.m. CET).
Ukraine doesn’t usually confirm or deny its responsibility for such attacks.
“As we are always saying in these cases, all such things happening in Russia are the consequences of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine,” Andriy Cherniak, a representative of Ukrainian Military Intelligence, told POLITICO, offering further more details.
Moscow has been targeted by several drone attacks over the past few months, with Russian officials blaming Ukraine.
In May, Russia claimed it had foiled a plot to target Vladimir Putin after the Kremlin — the president’s official residence in Moscow — was hit by an overnight drone attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later denied any responsibility. “We don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We are defending our villages and cities,” Zelenskyy said.
Veronika Melkozerova contributed reporting.