According to the authorities, Kiev and Moscow were attacked by enemy drone attacks on the night from Saturday to Sunday, which were largely intercepted by anti-aircraft defenses and did not cause any casualties.
“An attempt by the Kiev regime to use a drone to carry out a terrorist attack on facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation was foiled,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow were particularly common in the spring and at the start of the Kiev counteroffensive that began in June, but they have become very rare in recent weeks.
According to the Russian ministry, the drone in question was “destroyed by air defense equipment (…) over the territory of the Bogorodskii district of the Moscow region.”
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin later stated on Telegram that this foiled attack caused “no damage or casualties.” “Emergency services are working at the spot” where “the debris” of the plane fell, he said.
Kiev, in turn, was the target of a flood of explosive drones from the Russian army from the Iranian manufacturer “Shahed” for the second time in a row, as the local authorities announced and reported an “intensification” of attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
“For the second day in a row, the enemy is attacking the capital with drones,” complained the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, Serguii Popko, on Telegram.
According to his statements, the Russian drones “were fired in multiple groups and attacked Kiev in waves from different directions.”
In total, “15 of the 20 enemy drones were destroyed,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in a separate statement.
Here too, according to Mr. Popko, “no casualties or critical destruction were recorded.”
The day before, the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 29 of the 38 Shahed drones launched by Russian forces over the territory in the largest nighttime drone strike since late September.
On Saturday evening, Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected Russia to step up its attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, aiming to shut down the country’s heat and electricity supplies in the middle of winter.
“The closer winter approaches, the more the Russians will try to make their attacks stronger,” he warned in his daily address, urging his army to be 100% effective “despite all the difficulties, despite the fatigue.”