Ukrainian soldiers prepare a vehicle designed to fire helicopter shells as the Russia-Ukraine war continues in the direction of Toretsk, Ukraine, August 19, 2024.
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Ukraine carried out one of its largest-ever drone attacks on Moscow on Wednesday, as Kyiv continued to launch counter-attacks on Russian soil.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 11 that flew over Moscow, according to a Google translation. Update on Telegram.
“This is one of the biggest attempts to attack Moscow with drones ever. We continue to monitor the situation,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a separate post translated by Google. Telegram Postafter assessing the strikes had “caused no damage or casualties at the site of the debris fall” in earlier updates reported on the strikes.
Several drones were disabled over Podolsk, a nearby city south of Moscow, officer added. Citing Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya, state news agency Tass said in a Google translation report Airports in the Moscow region have returned to normal operations after a brief night-time restriction.
CNBC has contacted the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
The attack came as Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first trip in 13 years to Chechnya to inspect local troops and volunteers preparing to join the fight against Kyiv. according to Google translation from Kremlin.
Ukraine has weathered its own series of air attacks, with its air force saying it destroyed 50 of 69 drones launched by Russia overnight, in the latest Google translation report.
CNBC cannot independently verify any of the developments on the ground.
The tide of the Russia-Ukraine war, fought largely through artillery and drones, changed earlier this month, when Ukraine moved to counterattack with a surprise cross-border attack into Russian territory.
In the more than two years since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Kiev has seen fewer military attempts against its capital, Moscow, focusing its firepower on airports and oil facilities in the world’s second-largest oil exporter. The counteroffensive also raises questions about the potential impact on flows through the Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline, which carries gas from western Siberia through the Sudzha hub in the Kursk region before crossing into Ukraine and flowing toward Slovakia.
The invasion also reduces the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Russia had previously made it a condition of its participation in the talks the ability to retain four Ukrainian territories it has illegally annexed since the invasion. Kyiv has repeatedly said it will not make territorial concessions.
According to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Moscow is unlikely to fall into the “negotiation trap” after Ukraine’s attack on the Kursk region.
“No further negotiations until the enemy is completely defeated!” he urged in a Google-translated post. Telegram Post.
