Ukrainian Drone Strikes Moscow High-Rise, Disrupting Airports Before Victory Day
A Ukrainian drone impacted an upmarket residential high-rise in Moscow during the early hours of Monday, causing visible damage to the building's façade. No casualties were reported. This incident marks the third consecutive night the Russian capital has experienced drone activity, occurring just days prior to Russia's 9 May Victory Day parade, which commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.
Video footage, yet to be independently verified, shows firemen within a damaged flat, covered in dust and rubble with windows blown out. Additional footage depicted drone debris scattered on the street below the affected building. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that two other drones were intercepted, leading to the temporary suspension of operations at Vnukovo and Domodedovo international airports overnight.
The Russian defence ministry reported a total of 117 drone interceptions across several Russian regions between Sunday and Monday. Notably, sixty of these were directed at the St Petersburg region, which Governor Aleksandr Drodzhenko described as a "massive" attack. The residential building struck in Moscow is located in a south-west neighbourhood, less than 10km from the Kremlin and Red Square, the planned site for Saturday's parade.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that the Kremlin was apprehensive of "drones will fly over Red Square." This follows the Kremlin's announcement last week that the annual Red Square military parade would be scaled back due to a "terrorist threat" from Ukraine, omitting armoured vehicles and missile systems for the first time since 2008. Local phone operators have also reportedly restricted mobile internet in Moscow for much of the week, citing "security reasons."
Ukraine has increasingly utilised long-range drones, capable of striking targets hundreds of miles from its borders, frequently targeting Russian energy infrastructure and refineries to impact oil production and revenue. On Sunday, Zelensky claimed that three Russian oil tankers, a cruise-missile carrier warship, and a patrol boat were hit in separate attacks on two Russian ports. These tankers, he stated, were part of Russia's "shadow fleet" employed to circumvent Western sanctions imposed following the 2022 full-scale invasion. Concurrently, Russia continues its daily aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities, with authorities reporting four killed and 18 injured in a missile strike near Kharkiv on Monday.
