Moscow came under drone attack overnight as Russia reported one of the largest waves of UAV strikes in months.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 30 drones were shot down by air defense systems near the capital between Monday evening, Sept. 22, and Tuesday morning, Sept. 23.
He added that emergency services were working at debris sites.
Between 7:40 p.m. (1640 UTC) Monday and 7:41 a.m. (0441 UTC) Tuesday, Sobyanin reported via Telegram that 32 drones were destroyed. Drone debris damaged four vehicles in Reutov, near Moscow, according to RusNews, an independent news outlet on Telegram.
The “Beware, Moscow” Telegram channel posted that residents of the Odintsovo and Sergiev Posad districts, as well as several Moscow districts, had reported explosions likely linked to air defense activity.
Sheremetyevo Airport was temporarily closed, and other Moscow airports experienced delays.
Restrictions were also imposed at airports in Nizhnekamsk, Kazan, and Gelendzhik, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency.
Videos on social media showed an airliner flying unusually low over residential areas in New Moscow, apparently during the drone attack.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that from 3:00 p.m. (1200 UTC) Sept. 22 until midnight, 81 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Moscow, Rostov, Ryazan, and Tula regions, as well as occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
In the morning, the ministry added that between midnight and 7:00 a.m. Sept. 23 (2100 Sept. 22 to 0400 Sept. 23), another 69 drones were downed across the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Moscow, Rostov, Ryazan, Samara, and Saratov regions, and in occupied Crimea.
In total, Russia says its forces destroyed more than 180 drones in less than 24 hours.
Ukraine has not commented on the reported Ukrainian attacks nor on the claims of Russian air defenses.
This news story will be updated as more information becomes available.