War comes to Putin’s doorstep: Wealthy Moscow region is hit by kamikaze drones

Moscow was under siege early today from suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones attacks just hours after Vladimir Putin unleashed a volley of suicide UAVs at the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The suspected Ukrainian drones hit the wealthy Moscow region, which encircles the Russian capital, including the elite district of Rublyovka and damaged a series of buildings. 

The explosive drones struck blocks of flats in Leninisky Prospekt and Profsoyuznaya Street near to the centre of Moscow, reportedly wounding several people and damaging the buildings.

Moscow, located more than 620 miles from Ukraine, has only rarely been targeted by drone attacks since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, even though such attacks have become more common elsewhere in Russia. 

The rare drone attack on Moscow and its surrounding areas came after Russia launched a pre-dawn attack on Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday, killing at least one person and sending Kyiv’s residents scrambling into shelters to escape a relentless wave of daylight and nighttime bombardments.

The suspected Ukrainian drones hit the wealthy Moscow region, which encircles the Russian capital, including the elite district of Rublyovka and damaged a series of buildings

At least 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones were destroyed by Kyiv’s air defence forces in Russia’s third attack on the capital in the past 24 hours. 

The buzzing of the drones, which are packed with explosives, could be heard over the city followed by loud explosions as they were taken down by air defense systems.

One person died and three were injured when a high-rise building in the Holosiiv district caught fire.

The two upper floors were destroyed, and there may be people under the rubble, the Kyiv military administration said. More than 20 people were evacuated. 

Elsewhere in Kyiv, falling debris caused a fire in a private house in the Darnytskyi district and three cars were set alight in the Pechersky district, according to the military administration.

Hours after the attack, Ukraine reportedly launched a rare drone attack on Moscow and its surrounding wealthy areas.

‘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’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. 

Residents of two buildings damaged in the attack on Moscow were evacuated, Sobyanin said.

Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the wider Moscow region, later said several drones were ‘shot down on the approach to Moscow.’

Images posted on social media showed traces of smoke in the sky. Others showed a broken window. 

An apartment building burns after being damaged during a massive Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday

Firefighters work near cars damaged during a massive Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday

Ukrainian air defense intercepts a Shahed drone mid-air in the third Russia aerial attack on the capital in the last 24 hours in Kyiv on Tuesday

Ukrainian air defense intercepts a Shahed drone mid-air in the third Russia aerial attack on the capital in the last 24 hours in Kyiv on Tuesday

Until now Moscow has been largely a safe haven from attacks in the war with life going on as normal despite the mayhem and misery Vladimir Putin has unleashed in dozens of Ukrainian cities.

The head of Ukrainian military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov had warned Russia it would see a quick response to the unprecedented drone and missile attacks on Kyiv in recent days. 

‘All those who tried to intimidate us, dreaming that this would have some effect, you will regret it very soon,’ said Budanov. ‘Our answer will not be long in coming. Soon everyone will see everything.’

Yet there was no immediate confirmation that Ukraine was behind the assault on Moscow, which saw drones fly over Rublyovka, home to many of Putin’s closest oligarchs and not far from his Moscow region official residence. 

Drones exploded in the suburbs of New Moscow and Novaya Riga near Moscow. One drone hit the upper floors of a residential building at 98 Profsoyuznaya Street, destroying part of the apartment building. 

A second hit a 24-storey residential tower block on Atlasova Street in New Moscow. 

Meanwhile, drones were seen in the sky over villages close to Moscow including Funkovo, Kezmino and Romashkovo. 

It was the second reported an attack on Moscow, after authorities said two drones targeted the Kremlin earlier this month in what was labelled an attempt on President Vladimir Putin’s life.

Today’s strikes in Moscow and Kyiv came a day after Russian forces fired a barrage of missiles at Kyiv on Monday, sending panicked residents running for shelter in an unusual daytime attack on the Ukrainian capital following overnight strikes.