MOSCOW: In a disturbing turn of events, a drone attack originating from Ukraine rocked Moscow, resulting in an explosion that reverberated throughout the city’s bustling business district.
Russian authorities have swiftly responded, with Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirming that air defences successfully intercepted the drone, but its debris fell upon the city’s Expo Center.
This incident marks just the latest episode in a string of similar attacks targeting the Russian capital. Footage circulating on social media platforms portrays billowing grey smoke ascending into the night sky over Moscow, casting an eerie glow over the urban landscape. Notably, there has been no immediate response from Ukrainian officials regarding the attack.
According to Russia’s defence ministry, the attack transpired at approximately 04:00 local time (01:00 GMT), catching authorities off guard. In response, the city’s air defence systems were activated, causing the drone to veer from its trajectory and subsequently crash into a non-residential structure along the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment. This section of Moscow houses several vital government buildings, making it a symbolically significant location.
Though the explosion yielded a palpable impact, initial reports indicate that there were no casualties. The Expo Center, the site where the drone debris landed, serves as a pivotal venue for conferences and conventions and lies less than 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) away from the Kremlin, underscoring the audacity of the attack.
A witness present in the vicinity of the attack shared their account with Reuters, describing the detonation as a “powerful explosion” that undoubtedly rattled the surrounding area. Both the Russian defence ministry and Mayor Sobyanin downplayed the extent of the damage, with the former stating that no fires had been ignited and the latter asserting that the building had suffered “no significant damage.”
Contradicting these statements, the state-owned news agency Tass reported that a segment of the Expo Center’s outer wall had partially collapsed, an assertion seemingly confirmed by emergency services. This structural impairment covered an estimated area of 30 square meters (323 square feet).
As a direct consequence of the attack, Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport temporarily ceased operations, citing security concerns. However, the airport resumed normal activities shortly thereafter. This incident underscores the ongoing vulnerability of Russia’s infrastructure to drone-based assaults.
Moscow had remained relatively unscathed by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine until earlier this year, but recent months have seen an escalation in drone strikes targeting the city. On May 30, a series of strikes inflicted damage on several buildings. The situation intensified on July 30 and 31, as two separate drones collided with the glass facade of a skyscraper situated just a stone’s throw away from the Expo Center.
In response to these events, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asserted that the war was encroaching upon Russian territory, a development he deemed both “inevitable” and “absolutely fair.” Hours before the Moscow strike, Russia’s defence ministry reported the destruction of a Ukrainian sea drone that had attempted to target Russia’s naval fleet in the Black Sea. This incident further fuels the already escalating tensions between the two nations, raising concerns about the potential for further confrontations in the future.
