Russian air defences shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones heading to Moscow and downed nearly 160 more over other regions in attacks that killed at least one and injured five others, Russian officials said on Monday.

Nearly four years into the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two, Russia is trying to smash Ukraine’s energy system while Kyiv is trying to knock out the oil refineries of the world’s second largest oil exporter.

Russia’s defence ministry said 34 Ukrainian drones were shot down on their way to Moscow, a city which along with the surrounding Moscow region has a population of more than 22 million people.

There were no reports of major damage in Moscow, but Russia rarely discloses the full scale impact of Ukrainian strikes inside its territory unless civilians or civilian objects are involved.

Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya said that two of Moscow’s four airports, the Domodedovo airport and the smaller Zhukovsky airport, were briefly closed for safety reasons.

In total 193 drones were shot down by Russia, the defence ministry said, including 47 over the Bryansk, a region in Russia’s southwest that borders Ukraine.

There a Ukrainian drone hit a minibus, killing the driver and injuring five passengers, regional governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said on the Telegram messaging app.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has previously said that its attacks are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to conducting Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Both sides deny targeting civilians, but thousands have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.

Source: Reuters
--Agencies