Russia says air defenses thwart major drone attack in Ukraine targeting Moscow as Kursk push continues

Moscow — Moscow has come under one of the largest attacks by Ukrainian drones since fighting began in 2022, Russian authorities said Wednesday, saying they had destroyed all those flying toward the capital. The defense ministry said Russia had shot down 45 Ukrainian drones overnight. It said 11 drones were destroyed over the Moscow region, 23 over the Bryansk region, six over Belgorod, three over Kaluga and two over Kursk, where Ukrainian forces I have installed unprecedented invasion In recent weeks.

“This was one of the largest-ever attempts to attack Moscow using drones,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel, adding that strong defenses around the capital made it possible to shoot down all the drones before they could hit their intended targets.

Some Russian social media channels have been circulating videos of drones apparently being destroyed by air defense systems, which then trigger car alarms.

The governor of the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, Alexander Bogomaz, announced a “mass” attack on his region, but 23 drones were destroyed.

While Ukraine has been embroiled in a ground conflict in Eastern Europe, where the Russians have been advancing slowly and at great cost to both sides, Kyiv has also been attacking Russia with drones. Ukraine has targeted oil refineries and airports in an attempt to weaken Russia’s fighting capacity, and has also targeted the capital several times.

Drone attack on Moscow comes as Ukrainian forces push into Kursk

The drone attacks come as Ukrainian forces continue to push into Russia’s western Kursk region. The bold Russian push has boosted morale in Ukraine with its surprising success and changed the dynamics of the fighting. Ukrainian forces have brought in CBS News correspondent Ian Lee Turkish forces have continued their advance toward the Russian border this week, with the amount of military equipment they have amassed suggesting their offensive will not slow down.

Special forces led the offensive, enabling Ukraine to seize 500 square miles of Russian territory to create what President Volodymyr Zelensky said would be a buffer zone to prevent Russian missile attacks on civilians in the country’s east.

But it’s uncertain how long Ukraine will be able to hold the ground it has taken in Kursk. The incursion has opened another front in a war that has already left Ukrainian forces severely stretched thin. The gains in Kursk come as Ukraine continues to lose ground in its eastern industrial heartland, the Donbas.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in its daily report late Tuesday that the Ukrainians had made further progress in their incursion, now in its third week.

Russia’s TASS news agency reported that 31 people had been killed since the Ukrainian offensive began on August 6, citing an unnamed source in the medical service — figures that are impossible to verify. It said 143 people had been injured, 79 of whom were hospitalized, including four children.

Ukraine Attacks on three bridges over the Seim River in KurskSuch attacks by Russian forces in areas not under Russian control could trap Russian forces between the river, the Ukrainian advance, and the Ukrainian border. These attacks already appear to be slowing Russia’s response to the Kursk advance.

Ukrainian forces appear to be targeting Russian floating bridges and floating engineering equipment over the Sim River in an area west of the Ukrainian advance, the Washington think tank said.

Although details are scarce, Ukraine appears to be trying to prevent the Russians from crossing the river. Satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by The Associated Press on Wednesday showed a large fire on the Seim River near the village of Krasnoktyabrskoye.

The fire broke out on the northern bank of the river on Tuesday, and another appears to have broken out in the same village. Such fires are common after attacks and often mark the site of ongoing fighting on the front lines.