Moscow, May 30 (EFE).- Several drones hit the Russian capital in a rare attack on Moscow Tuesday, causing minor damage to some buildings in the city, said officials.
It was one of the rare attacks on the capital since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
It is unknown who flew the explosive-laden drone over the heavily guarded but highly vulnerable city.
The Russian defense ministry blamed Ukraine for the attack, saying eight pilotless aerial vehicles flew over the capital before being shot down.
“The Kyiv regime plotted to carry out terrorist attack in Moscow,” the defense ministry alleged.
City mayor Sergei Sobyanin said a drone attack “caused minor damage to several buildings” in the early hours of Tuesday.
“No one has been seriously injured. All emergency services in the city are on the scene,” the mayor wrote on his Telegram channel.
He said two people received medical help for minor wounds.
Sobyanin said residents were evacuated from the two drone-hit buildings for safety reasons.
“Immediately after the end of the work of special services, residents will be able to return to their apartments,” said the mayor.
State-run Sputnik news agency, citing a spokesperson for emergencies services, said drones hit two residential buildings in southern Moscow: Profsoyuznaya Street and Atlasova Street.
“A drone also hit a 24-story residential building on Atlasova Street. The facade and glazing of the upper floors were destroyed. There were no casualties,” the spokesperson said.
The official news outlet said a UAV carrying explosive devices flew into an apartment on the 14th floor of a building on Leninsky Avenue but failed to detonate.
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) said all airports in Moscow and the capital region operated normally after the drone attack.
“No drones were detected in the airport area. Departures and arrivals are taking place according to schedule,” said the civil aviation agency’s press office.
The incident comes almost a month after Russia accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack on the Kremlin on May 3.
According to a Russian presidential office statement, security forces brought down two drones as they approached the Kremlin. There were no casualties in that attack.
Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak rejected the allegation, saying the country “wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation.” EFE
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