The outskirts of Moscow was attacked by at least eight drones Tuesday morning, the first time the Russian capital was heavily targeted in a single operation since the first attempt at its heart earlier this month.
The Kremlin blamed Ukraine for carrying out the strikes. "This morning, the Kyiv regime launched a terrorist drone attack on targets in the city of Moscow," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
However, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak denied Kyiv was directly involved with the attack.
5 of 8 drones were shot down before reaching the target
According to the Russian military, they shot down five of the drones while three were stopped with signal jamming technology and missed their targets.
Nevertheless, the three drones managed to damage several high-rise buildings in the suburb of Rublyovka, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has an official residence.
There was also verification from Moscow's western suburbs showing an unidentified drone flying over the roofs of a village where affluent Muscovites live.
While there was speculation that the Ukrainian-manufactured UJ-22 drone was used in the attack, several videos picture a different model was used and does not resemble the UJ-22.
In an interview with the BBC, land warfare expert Jack Watling said the drones' targets remained unknown.
Meanwhile, Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin blamed the drone strikes on the Russian top brass who were living in the suburb.
"Let your houses burn," he addressed the Russian generals.
It is well known that Prigozhin is at odds with the Russian Defense Ministry for not supplying ammunition to Wagner troops while in the process of capturing Bakhmut.
One dead in Russian drone attack on Kyiv
Hours before the attack on Moscow, Russia launched a third airstrike on Kyiv in less than 24 hours, leaving one dead and three injured.
The airstrike followed a rare daytime attack against the Ukrainian capital several hours prior.
