Overnight drone attack on Moscow injures one, airport temporarily closed

Moscow, July 31:Three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, Russian authorities said, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure of traffic in and out of one of four airports around the Russian capital.

It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow's vulnerability to attacks as Russia's war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.

The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an "attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district.

Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack "insignificantly damaged" the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was injured, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.

No flights went into or out of Vnukovo airport on the southern outskirts of the city for about an hour, according to Tass, and the airspace over Moscow and the outlying regions was temporarily closed to all aircraft. Those restrictions have since been lifted.

Moscow authorities have also closed a street to traffic near the site of the crash in the Moscow City area.

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who rarely if ever take responsibility for attacks on Russian soil.

The attack follows a night of reported drone skirmishes between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow announced Sunday that it had foiled a Ukrainian attack on Russian-annexed Crimea, shooting down 16 drones and neutralizing eight more with an electronic jamming system. There were no casualties, officials said.

The Ukrainian air force reported that it had destroyed four Russian drones above the country's Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Information on the attacks could not be independently verified. (AP)