Russia has foiled nighttime attacks by Ukrainian drones in western Moscow and Bryansk regions, Russian authorities said early Monday. Monday, “The air defense forces of the Lioubertsy district (southeast of the capital, editor’s note) destroyed a drone flying towards Moscow,” said the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, in Telegram.
“According to initial information, there were no injuries or damage.” He added, noting that the relevant services are on site. According to the Defense Ministry, the attack was led from Kiev and thwarted around 4:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. GMT).
Also read: MAP. War in Ukraine: A cargo ship leaves Odessa, an American drone in the Black Sea… The point of the day
During the night, the international airports Domodedovo and Vnukovo in Moscow were briefly closed for departures and arrivals before they resumed operations, the Russian state news agency TASS reported at the same time, citing the flight services.
In the night from Sunday to Monday, two more devices failed “Destroyed by air defenses in action over the territory of the Bryansk region”, on the border with Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced in Telegram. The ministry did not provide any information on injuries or damage.
Increase in Ukrainian drone strikes
Drone attacks on Russian territory and the Crimean Peninsula, annexed in 2014, have multiplied in recent weeks, targeting the Russian capital in particular, amid a counter-offensive from Kiev that began in early June.
Moscow announced on Thursday that it had shot down three Ukrainian planes in the Bryansk and Kaluga border regions. In the summer, devices were destroyed above the capital’s business district, and in May two devices suffered the same fate near the Kremlin.
89 children are still living in Donetsk
According to Suspilne News, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a TV program on Sunday, August 27 that 89 children were still living in the front-line camps in Donetsk. Mr Kyrylenko also said local authorities were working to evacuate the children in the coming weeks.
“All services are hard at work in the hottest areas, including Kramatorsk and Bakhmut districts, as well as in settlements along the front line,” said Mr. Kyrylenko.
He also pointed out that the mandatory evacuation of children from the area has been in effect since August 2022, viz “The government has agreed to the decision to force the evacuation” in March 2023. On August 5, authorities announced the forced evacuation of 130 children from nine locations in Donetsk Oblast.
A second freighter left Odessa despite the end of the agreement with Moscow
Ukraine announced on Sunday that a second cargo ship, stuck in the port of Odessa by Russia’s exit from the Black Sea export deal, has put to sea and entered Romanian territorial waters.
Kyiv earlier this month unilaterally decided to set up a temporary sea corridor after Moscow pulled out of an agreement designed to ensure the safety of shipping for the transportation of export goods, including grain, from Ukrainian ports.
“The second ship has reached Romanian waters after safely sailing through our makeshift corridor.” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on social media. He added that the vessel – the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Primus – was transporting steel for the African market.
“Thank you to everyone who made this possible – our dockers, our fighters and all those defending freedom.”, he added. At the same time, Russia, which threatened to consider any ship calling at Ukrainian ports as a potential target when it pulled out of the deal, announced that it had sent a fighter jet to fend off a US Air Force reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea.
Moscow and Kiev have stepped up their military activities in the Black Sea since the failure of the United Nations-brokered export deal. Russia shelled Ukrainian port infrastructure at sea and on the Danube, while Ukraine attacked Russian ships in its waters and on Moscow-annexed Crimea.