Ukraine carried out drone attack on Moscow: Officials

Ukrainian forces carried out the drone strikes in Moscow early on Monday, a Kyiv official has told CNN.

The official from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, an arm of its Ministry of Defense, said the agency was responsible for the operation that Russia described as a “terrorist attack of the Kiev regime,” using the Russian spelling for Ukraine’s capital.

The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because they had not received authorization to talk publicly about the incident.

Ukraine’s minister of Digital Transformation also claimed the attack. Mykhailo Fedorov, whose ministry oversees his country’s “Army of Drones” procurement plan, claimed there would be more strikes to come.

The drones struck two non-residential buildings in the Russian capital – including one near the Ministry of Defense headquarters – in Monday’s early hours, according to Russian authorities, who said they had “thwarted” the attack.

The strikes caused no serious damage or casualties, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram Monday – but the incident will serve as a reminder of the range of Kyiv’s drones, as Ukraine seeks to bring the war closer to home for Russians.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that two drones were “suppressed by electronic warfare means and crashed.” 

“On the morning of July 24, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to launch a terrorist attack using two unmanned aerial vehicles against facilities on the territory of the city of Moscow was thwarted,” the ministry said on Telegram.

Social media footage of the aftermath, verified by CNN, showed damage to the Russian defense ministry complex. 

One of the buildings seen damaged in footage geolocated by CNN houses the ministry’s military orchestra. It was not immediately clear if that had been caused by the drones.

The area also houses the Russian Foreign Military Intelligence, known as GRU, 26165 unit, which carries out cyber activities, according to multiple Western sources. It’s also in the vicinity of the Ministry of Defense’s National Defense Management Center.

Later Monday morning, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Russian air defenses had worked successfully.

“All the drones have been neutralized today, and measures are being taken,” Peskov said. “As for the development of the defense system, ensuring its more intensive work, this is a question for the Ministry of Defense.”

CNN/ REUTERS