Russia temporarily closed all four major Moscow airports early Friday morning (August 18) after an alleged drone strike hit the capital city.
According to the Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya, seven flights from Moscow's Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky airports were diverted to Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Minsk in Belarus.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Russian air defenses shot down a drone over the city overnight, with debris from the drone falling into Expocentre, an exhibition center within the wider Moscow city center, about 3 miles (5 kilometers) east of the Kremlin.
No casualties were recorded and damages to buildings were minimal, he added.
Ukraine Strikes Again, Russia Says
In a statement, the Russian defense ministry quickly blamed Ukraine for the alleged drone strike, saying it was "another terrorist attack" from Kyiv.
"The [unmanned aerial vehicle], after being hit by air defense systems, changed its flight trajectory and fell on a non-residential building near Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in Moscow," the statement added.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have not commented on the incident despite its earlier admission of using drones to strike deep into Russian territory to defend itself against Moscow's unprovoked aggression.
The drone attack was the third time Moscow was hit in the past month.
Earlier this month, Ukraine displayed its capability to target Russian warships after heavily damaging one in Novorossiysk using naval drones.
US Approves Transfer of F-16s to Ukraine
Earlier this week, the US made what could be seen as a crucial step in its commitment to helping Ukraine after Washington approved of the transfer of F-16 fighter planes from the Danish and Dutch air forces to the Ukrainians once their training is complete.
In a statement to his Danish and Dutch counterparts, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of enhancing Ukraine's defense capabilities against Russian encroachments.
Despite this, military experts claim the F-16s would significantly increase Ukraine's long-term defense capabilities, but might not be pivotal in its ongoing counteroffensive.
Ukraine Bound to Fail Counteroffensive Key Goals, US Intel Says
On the other hand, the Washington Post reported the US intelligence community assessed Ukraine's counteroffensive would fail to reach its key goal of retaking the southeastern city of Melitopol because it is at the intersection of two important highways and a railroad line that allows Russia to move military personnel and supplies to the areas in southern Ukraine they have occupied.
People familiar with the classified prediction told the outlet, on the condition of anonymity, that, if proven correct, Kyiv would underdeliver from the counteroffensive's main objective of severing the land bridge connecting Crimea with Russia within the year.
The assessment was based on Moscow's brutal proficiency in defending occupied territory using mines, trenches, barbed wire, and bunkers.
Given the sluggish pace of the counteroffensive and the massive casualties Ukrainian forces sustained in the first few weeks of the campaign, the sources project officials in Kyiv and the West would play the blame game on how cost-ineffective it is with the help the Ukrainians are getting.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the information The Post received.
