Flights disrupted at Moscow airport due to drone attack

London, July 4

Ukraine has launched a drone attack on Moscow, the Russian Defence Ministry said, forcing flights to be diverted from the Vnukovo International Airport, a media report said.

Five drones were reportedly used in Tuesday's attack, which also targeted locations in the wider region around the capital. The ministry said all the drones were shot down and there were no casualties or damage, BBC reported.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the alleged attack, BBC reported.

Restrictions at Vnukovo Airport, one of Moscow's three international airports, have now been lifted. Flights from Turkey, the UAE and Egypt were among those affected, BBC reported.

According to the Defence Ministry, four of the drones flying in the Moscow region were shot down by air defence systems. A fifth was intercepted electronically before crashing.

"An attempt by the Kiev regime to attack a zone where civil infrastructure is located, including an airport that receives international flights, is a new terrorist act," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram, BBC reported.

Russian state media said one of the drones crashed in the town of Kubinka, which is roughly 36 km from the Vnukovo Airport in the south-west of the city.

Another was reportedly shot down near the village of Valuevo, also near the airport.

Tuesday's drone attack comes after Ukraine launched its counter-offensive against Russia.

This has not yet achieved the sort of speed and momentum some had hoped for, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who previously acknowledged progress was slow.