ZAP // Robert Ghement / EPA; vverve / Depositphotos; The Times & Sunday Times
“We are saying clearly to the Russians: your state must end the war.” More than 50 flights were diverted to alternative airports. One woman and two men were killed.
The Russian capital and surrounding region were attacked tonight by 81 drones Ukrainians (a total of more than 120 in the last 24 hours), forcing Moscow’s main airports to temporarily suspend operations. However, the Russian version of events points to much higher numbers. Moscow guaranteed that it had shot down 556 drones during the night.
Between 22:00 on Saturday and 07:00 today [das 20:00 de sábado às 05:00 de hoje em Lisboa]“air defense units intercepted and destroyed 556 Ukrainian drones” over 14 Russian regions, as well as over occupied Crimea and the Black and Azov Seas, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the Max messaging application.
“Since 3:00 in the morning [01:00 em Lisboa]air defense forces are repelling a drone attack in the capital region,” said Andrei Vorobiov, governor of Moscow, on Telegram.
Vorobiov added that a woman was killed in the city of Khimki, northwest of Moscow, and two men were killed in a village in the Mytishchi district (northeast), while in other parts of the region, several houses were damaged and infrastructure was attacked.
Shortly before, the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, said that dozens of drones hit Moscow overnight, less than a week after the end of the ceasefire with Ukraine.
In a series of messages also published on Telegram, Sobyanin stated that air defenses shot down a total of 74 drones.
The attack on Moscow is “the biggest in more than a year”, according to the Russian state agency TASS.
Half a hundred flights diverted
At Sheremetyevo airport, north of the city, debris fell from a downed drone, but there were no injuries or deaths. In total, at least three people died and 15 were injured during the attack, the biggest in recent years.
More than 50 flights were diverted to alternative airports due to the temporary interruption of operations in the main terminals of Moscow airport.
On its Telegram channel, the Russian Ministry of Transport indicated that, “during last night and this morning, 51 aircraft were diverted to alternative airports due to temporary airspace restrictions”. As he highlighted, “the restrictions are necessary to guarantee the safety of flights”, which is “a priority”.
The Ministry of Transport also said that “32 flights were delayed by more than two hours at Moscow airports”, with “additional teams deployed to assist passengers”.
“Airport services are operating more efficiently. The situation in the terminals is calm,” he added.
According to the ministry, in situations like this, airlines “must provide services to passengers in accordance with the Federal Aviation Regulations,” which “include the provision of food and beverages as well as hotel accommodations for passengers.”
Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s rights attack
Zelenskyy confirmed the attack and did not mince words.
“Our responses to Russia’s prolongation of the war and its attacks on our cities and communities are fully justified. This time, far-reaching Ukrainian sanctions hit the Moscow region, and we are saying clearly to the Russians: your state must end the war“, wrote the Ukrainian leader on social media.
Ukraine, in retaliation for daily bombings by the Russian army for more than four years, regularly attacks targets in Russia, claiming to target military and energy facilities.
Although the capital region is a frequent target of drone attacks, the city of Moscow itself, located more than 400 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, is hit less frequently.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine had the right to attack oil and military installations in Russia, in response to the attack that killed at least 24 people in Kiev the previous day.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had neutralized 269 of a total of 294 drones launched the previous night by Russia against Ukrainian territory.
The unmanned devices, some of which were attack drones while others were replica drones designed to confuse anti-aircraft defenses, were launched from the Russian regions of Oryol, Kursk, Briansk, Millerovo, Shatalovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, as well as occupied Crimea.
Ukraine and Russia resumed exchanging airstrikes on Tuesday after the end of a three-day truce, brokered by the United States, during Russian celebrations of the end of World War II.
