Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian drone targeting Moscow, officials said, the latest in a series of attacks on the capital.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air force downed a Ukrainian drone over the Russian capital at around 04:00 am on Friday.
«The unmanned drone, after being exposed to air defense weapons, changed its flight path and crashed into a non-residential building in the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment area of Moscow,» the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were at the scene, adding that early reports indicated there were no casualties.
«The wreckage of the drone fell in the area of the Expo Center, and did not cause significant damage to the building,» he said on Telegram.
The state-run news agency TASS reported that one of the walls of the venue’s pavilion had partially collapsed, citing emergency services.
TASS also said that the airspace near Vnukovo international airport was briefly closed, with departures and arrivals delayed, citing aviation authorities.
The venue is located some 100 meters from Moscow City, an office block in the capital’s main business district that was struck twice this month by debris from downed drones.
Meanwhile, just hours before Friday’s drone crash in Moscow, Russia said it had thwarted a Ukrainian seaborne drone attack on its warships in the Black Sea.
The Defense Ministry said the drone was destroyed late on Thursday night by navy patrol ships, some 237 km southwest of Sevastopol in annexed Crimea.