LAST UPDATE | 16 Aug 2023

RUSSIA’S DEFENCE MINISTRY has said it shot down three Ukrainian drones southwest of Moscow, the latest in a surge of aerial attacks inside its borders.

Ukraine launched the attack at 5:00 am (2:00 Irish time) using “three unmanned aerial vehicles on objects in the Kaluga region”, the ministry said on social media site Telegram.

“All UAVs were detected and destroyed in a timely manner by Russian air defence systems.”

Kaluga’s governor said the drones were shot down in the south of the region, a few hundred kilometres southwest of Moscow.

“There are no consequences for people and infrastructure,” Vladislav Shapsha said on Telegram.

The air attack is at least the fifth this month over the Kaluga region that Russia says it has thwarted.

Russian officials previously said they had intercepted drone attacks in the region on August 12, 10, 7 and 3.

Until a series of attacks in recent months, the capital and its surrounding areas had not been targeted during the conflict in Ukraine, which began more than a year ago.

In recent weeks, two drone attacks were repelled over Moscow’s financial district, with each causing minor damage to the facades of high-rise buildings. In May, drones were shot down near the Kremlin.

On July 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that “war” was coming to Russia, with the country’s “symbolic centres and military bases” becoming targets.

– © AFP 2023