August 23rd 2023.
Residents in Moscow were left in shock on Wednesday morning, as a building in the city was badly damaged after being hit by a drone.
Loud explosions were heard ringing out after the drone ploughed into the building, and flames and smoke poured out. Emergency services rushed to the scene in numbers after the blast rocked the city.
Russia's Defence Ministry said it had brought down three drones in the Mozhaisk and Khimki districts, and Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed the attack via his Telegram channel.
The drone reportedly lost control and collided with the building after it was intercepted, causing significant damage. Pictures and videos from the scene showed broken windows in two five-storey buildings opposite, and emergency services were inspecting the area.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack, however President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that attacks on Russian territory are an ‘inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process’.
The building that was hit is one of many in the Moscow International Business Center, and no casualties have been reported. Flights to and from several major airports in Moscow were suspended for a while, but have now resumed.
A barrage of aerial attacks have been raining down on Moscow for almost an entire week. Russia also shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region, and two more over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
The USA has said that it does not encourage or enable attacks inside Russia, and it is up to Ukraine to decide how it chooses to defend itself from the Russian invasion that began in February last year.
The drone strike left the people of Moscow in a state of shock, and the city is now on high alert as tensions continue to escalate. It appears that the attacks have been stepped up since two drones were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May, and while the damage is mostly minor, it remains to be seen how long this situation will last.
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