At least one person has died and three others have been injured after Ukraine launched a major drone attack targeting several regions across Russia.
Moscow’s regional governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed several buildings have been damaged and there has been at least one fatality.
“A woman was killed and three more people sustained injuries. Five residential buildings near one of those damaged have been evacuated as emergency services were handling drone debris,” Mr Vorobyov said.
If the figures are confirmed, it would be one of the biggest Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian soil in the two-and-a-half-year war.
In the town of Ramenskoye, around 31 miles (50km) southeast of the capital, drones hit high-rise apartment blocks and started fires.
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Flames could be seen from the balcony of an apartment block in Ramenskoye, Moscow. Pic: Reuters
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Pictures on social media showed a fire in another residential block in the same region. Pic: Reuters
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Several apartments were damaged in the blaze. Pic: Reuters
The attack forced the temporary closure of three airports just outside Moscow – Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky. A total of 48 flights were diverted, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia.
In Moscow, drone debris fell on a house on the outskirts of the city, but no one was hurt, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
He counted over a dozen drones heading towards Moscow, which were shot down as they approached the city.
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Russia’s defence ministry claims to have “intercepted and destroyed” 144 Ukrainian drones over nine Russian regions.
About half of them were shot down over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, but no damage or casualties have been reported there.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There is no way that night time strikes on residential neighbourhoods can be associated with military action.
“The Kyiv regime continues to demonstrate its nature. They are our enemies and we must continue the special military operation to protect ourselves from such actions,” he said.
Russia has also hit Ukraine this month with some of its heaviest and deadliest attacks since the start of the war.
As Russia advances in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has taken the war to Russia with a cross-border attack in Russia’s western Kursk region, and by carrying out increasingly large drone attacks deep into Russian territory.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about Tuesday’s attacks, which follow others launched in early September mainly targeting Russia’s energy and power facilities.
Meanwhile, the United States and Britain have formally accused Iran of supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, to use in the war in Ukraine.
