Ukraine war: Moscow and Kyiv targeted by overnight drone attacks

Both Kiev and Moscow were targeted overnight from Saturday to Sunday by enemy drone attacks, which were largely intercepted by anti-aircraft defences and did not cause any casualties, according to the authorities.

“An attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using a drone against installations on the territory of the Russian Federation has been foiled,” the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow were particularly frequent in the spring, ahead of and at the start of Kyiv’s counter-offensive that began in June – but they have become rare in recent weeks.

According to the account given by the Russian ministry, the drone in question “was destroyed by air defence equipment… above the territory of the urban district of Bogorodsky, in the Moscow region”.

The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, later indicated on Telegram that the foiled attack “caused no damage or victims”.

Kyiv, too, was a target for the second night in a row of a barrage of explosive drones launched by the Russian army, according to local authorities, who reported “an intensification” of attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

The day before, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down 29 drones out of the 38 launched by Russian forces across the territory in the largest night-time drone attack since the end of September.

On Saturday evening, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expected Russia to increase its attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, with the aim of paralysing the country’s heating and electricity supplies in the middle of winter.

“The closer we get to winter, the more the Russians will try to make their strikes more powerful,” he warned in his daily address, calling on his army to be “100% effective, despite all the difficulties, despite the fatigue”.