Russia: Moscow mayor says military shot down two drones headed for capital

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Wednesday (August 9) that Russian forces shot down two combat drones headed for the capital. Taking to Telegram, mayor Sobyanin said one drone was downed in the Domodedovo area on the southern outskirts of Moscow, while the second was shot down in the Minsk highway area, west of the capital.

"Two combat drones' attempt to fly into the city was recorded. Both were shot down by air defence," Sobyanin said without naming an attacker. "At the moment, there is no information about victims of the fall of the wreckage," the mayor also said, adding, emergency services were on the ground.

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The surging drone attacks in Moscow

Wednesday's incident is the latest in a series of surge in drone attacks targetting Moscow. On Monday, the Russian government claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian drone southwest of Moscow. The incident in the Kaluga region, less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from Moscow, "affected neither people nor infrastructure", regional governor Vladislav Shapsha wrote on Telegram.

This comes after the defence ministry said it downed seven drones near Kaluga. And last Sunday, another drone targeting the Russian capital was shot down.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the ongoing war was coming to Russia, with the country's "symbolic centres and military bases" becoming targets.

"Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process," Zelensky said on July 30 during a visit to the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

“Ukraine is getting stronger,” he added, warning, however, that the country should prepare for a new attack on energy infrastructure in winter. The Ukrainian president's remarks came after three drones were shot down in Moscow.

Nine killed after Russian missiles strike Pokrovsk twice

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government said that Russian missiles struck the eastern city of Pokrovsk twice on Monday night, killing nine people, injuring scores and destroying apartments and a popular hotel. A total of 82 people were injured in the attack.

"Everyone is provided with the necessary assistance. There are two children among the wounded," President Zelensky said in his evening address.

And on Tuesday, Russian-installed Donetsk Mayor Alexei Kulemzin accused Ukraine in a social media post of shelling the city of Donetsk, killing three people and injuring 10 others.

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