One of the biggest drone strikes in Moscow was in Ukraine

Ukraine has carried out a series of drone attacks on Russian refineries and airfields, but attacks in the Moscow region have been rare.

Photo: Reuters

Ukraine has attempted to carry out at least 11 drone attacks on the Russian capital Moscow, in what Russian officials described as one of the largest drone attacks ever.

During Wednesday's attack, Russian air defenses shot down Ukrainian drones.

Since the Ukraine war began in February 2022, fighting has been largely confined to the vast fields, forests and villages of eastern Ukraine, but fighting has spread to new frontiers since Russia sent hundreds of thousands of troops across the Ukrainian border into the western Kursk region on August 6.

Ukraine has been carrying out drone attacks on Russian refineries and airfields for several months. The world's second largest oil exporting country is also suffering a lot of damage in these attacks. But drone strikes have become rare in the Moscow region of 21 million people.

Russia's Defense Ministry says its air defenses have destroyed 45 enemy drones over Russian territory. Of these, 11 were in the skies over the Moscow region, 23 over the Bryansk border region, six over the Belgorod region, three over the Kaluga region and two over the Kusk region.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said several drones flying over the Moscow region were destroyed in the skies over the city of Padolsk.

The location of this city in the Moscow region is about 38 km south of the Kremlin. No one was reported to have been injured in these drone attacks.

"This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow with drones so far," Sobyanin said on the Telegram app on Wednesday. Moscow's multi-layered defense system successfully repelled this enemy attack."

Reuters reported that cafes, restaurants and shops lining both sides of Moscow's wide boulevards were full of people as the drones were being destroyed, but there was little concern among them. The capital city is carefully kept away from the heat of battle. And President Vladimir Putin was meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who was visiting the Kremlin.

Two Russian nationals, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the failed drone strike showed how secure Moscow is now, saying that Ukraine had started 'playing with fire' by launching attacks on Kursk and Moscow.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have made further advances in eastern Ukraine and are struggling to prevent Ukrainian forces from encroaching on the Kursk region. Ukraine's attack on Kursk was the first major foreign attack on Russian soil since World War II.