Moscow attacked in major escalation of Ukraine conflict

A drone attack on the Russian capital Moscow has been launched by Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry has said.

It accused Ukraine on Tuesday of a “terrorist attack”, saying it had intercepted all of the eight Ukrainian drones aimed at Moscow.

“This morning the Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack with drones on targets in the city of Moscow. Eight drones were used in the attack. All of the enemy drones were downed,” the ministry said on social media.

Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that two houses were hit, causing “minor damage to several buildings”.

MASSIVE DRONE ATTACK ON MOSCOW ??

“⚡️Moscow and Moscow region under massive drone attack

For about an hour, Russian air defense has been trying to shoot down aircraft that are attacking the Russian capital, but have not always successfully - some have hit their targets.” pic.twitter.com/2QsY8Gpjd1

— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) May 30, 2023

Residents were evacuated, he said, but “so far, no one has been seriously hurt”.

He added: “Two people sought medical attention. Nobody needed hospitalisation, the necessary assistance was provided on the spot.”

Ukraine has not publicly acknowledged launching attacks against targets inside Russia.
 

Kyiv attacked in major escalation

The attack on Moscow comes as the fighting intensifies in the region.

Earlier in the day, Russia fired a barrage of missiles at Kyiv, sending panicked residents running for shelter in an unusual daytime attack on the Ukrainian capital following overnight strikes.

A series of explosions rang out in Kyiv as Russia targeted the city for the second time in 24 hours.

The latest barrages landed as the Ukrainian capital was still recovering from an overnight Saturday drone attack, the biggest since Russia’s invasion began in February last year.

AFP journalists heard at least 10 explosions from around 11:10am local time (0810 GMT) in Kyiv, starting just a few minutes after an air raid warning sounded.

Authorities later said Ukrainian air defences had downed all the Russian missiles launched against the Kyiv region.

One injured man was hospitalised, they said.

“A total of 11 missiles were fired: ‘Iskander-M’ and ‘Iskander-K’ from a northerly direction,” Ukraine’s armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny said, adding: “All the targets were destroyed by air defences.” On Tuesday morning, Moscow’s mayor said Russia’s capital had been targeted by a rare drone attack, but only “minor” damage had been caused and no casualties were reported.

“This morning, at dawn, a drone attack caused minor damage to several buildings. All the city’s emergency services are on the scene … no one has been seriously injured so far,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Kyiv’s parliament adopted on Monday a sanctions package against Russian ally Tehran, a day after Ukraine said Moscow used Iranian Shahed drones in the largest UAV attack on the capital since the start of the invasion.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called Monday “a very long day” in an evening address to Ukrainians, saying “Russia wants to go to the end on the path of evil” with its attacks.
 

“The world must see that terror loses. When the Patriots in the hands of Ukrainians ensure a hundred per cent shooting down of any Russian missiles, terror loses,” Zelensky said.

Kyiv received its first shipments of the American-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system in April, and US President Joe Biden on Monday suggested more aid was to come.

Asked about Russia’s fierce attacks on Kyiv, Biden told reporters, “It’s not unexpected,” adding: “That’s why we’ve got to continue to give Ukraine all that it needs.” Kyiv has been preparing an offensive, although its timing and focus have been the subject of months of speculation.

Ukraine ‘sabotage’ group crosses border

It comes a week after Moscow said its troops were battled a Ukrainian “sabotage” group that infiltrated the southern Russian region of Belgorod as locals fled.

In a first since the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities introduced an “anti-terror regime” in Belgorod.

Since the start of the war, the region bordering Ukraine has been repeatedly shelled in attacks that have killed dozens of people, and the region’s main city was struck in April by a Russian fighter jet that dropped ammunition over Belgorod by accident.

weirdness in Russia's Belgorod region today. Per regional governor, a Ukrainian Armed Forces "sabotage and reconnaissance group" purportedly entered the region. Gunfights reported, low-flying helicopters. https://t.co/W11FUHiaWq pic.twitter.com/m52AbQQJG4

— Mike Eckel (@Mike_Eckel) May 22, 2023

In the latest incursion, members of a “sabotage” group crossed over from Ukraine, Russian authorities said, adding that President Vladimir Putin had been notified.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people had been injured, adding that authorities were helping people leave the scene of the fighting.