Drones attack Moscow again
"On the night of August 23, Moscow was once again attacked by drones," announced Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of the city. "Last night, the air defense systems shot down a drone in the Mozhaysky district of the Moscow region.
The second UAV hit a building under construction in the Moscow-City complex. Emergency services were dispatched to the incident sites. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties," informed the city head.
The Russian Ministry of Defense later stated that Moscow was attacked by three drones simultaneously. The ministry claimed that two of them were allegedly shot down by air defense systems, while the third one was destroyed by electronic warfare means and subsequently crashed into a high-rise building.
"Two of the drones that attacked the capital were destroyed by air defense systems in the air over the Mozhaysky and Khimki districts of the Moscow region. The third UAV was suppressed by electronic warfare means and, losing control, collided with a building under construction in the Moscow-City complex," stated the message.
As usual, the Russian Defense Ministry blamed Ukraine for the drone attack. Streets around Moscow-City were closed off, and ambulances and emergency services were dispatched to the scene. Footage from the incident was published by residents, showing an explosion and its aftermath. The Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Moscow released a video showing damage to the facade of a high-rise building under construction on the 10th-15th floors. Neighboring buildings were also partially damaged by the blast wave caused by the drone impact.
"For the second time tonight, we woke up, at 2:55am, and saw everything in smoke. There wasn't much noise because the windows were closed. But before that, we literally jumped when a drone flew into the Expocenter," said a local resident whose apartment overlooks the Moscow City under-construction tower.
Drones have been attacking the Russian capital for the third consecutive night. The "Carpet" mode was introduced in all Moscow airports two days ago, which is declared when unknown aircraft or other objects are detected in the airspace. On August 21, the Russian Ministry of Defense declared an "attempt by the Kiev regime" to attack the Russian capital with drones. Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan complained that a Ukrainian UAV was shot down not far from her home. On the night of August 22, Russian air defense forces shot down two drones in the Moscow region - in the Krasnogorsk and Chasov areas.
Residents posted footage showing dozens of damaged vehicles, wreckage of UAVs, and fragments of broken windows in residential buildings. Three Moscow airports - Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, and Domodedovo - were not accepting flights, resulting in delays. Later, incoming flights to the Moscow aviation hub Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo resumed.