Ukrainian Drone Damages Moscow High-Rise Amid Ongoing Attacks Before Russia's Victory Day Parade

A Ukrainian drone struck an upmarket residential high-rise in Moscow in the early hours of Monday, resulting in no casualties but causing visible damage to the facade of an upper floor. The building, located in an upscale neighborhood in south-west Moscow less than 10km (six miles) from the Kremlin and Red Square, showed clear signs of impact from the street.

@BBCWorld reported that unverified videos circulating on social media depicted firemen entering a heavily damaged flat covered in dust and rubble with blown-out windows, while another video showed drone debris strewn across the street below.

This drone attack marked the third night in a row that Moscow came under assault from drones. Two other drones were intercepted in Moscow, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Vnukovo and Domodedovo international airports suspended operations overnight due to the threats.

The Russian defence ministry stated that a total of 117 drones were intercepted over several Russian regions between Sunday and Monday. Sixty drones were aimed at the region of St Petersburg. Ukrainian drones have attacked Moscow several times since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and such alerts regularly shut down airports on the outskirts of the capital, disrupting aerial traffic.

Much of Moscow is protected by the Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system. The incidents unfold days before Russia holds a scaled-back 9 May parade on Saturday at Red Square to mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. The Kremlin announced last week that it would scale back the yearly grand military parade on Red Square due to a 'terrorist threat' from Ukraine.

For the first time since 2008, no armoured vehicles or missile systems will feature in the parade. Several local phone operators announced that mobile internet will be restricted in Moscow for much of the week ahead for 'security reasons,' according to Russian media. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Kremlin was afraid that 'drones will fly over Red Square.

This is telling... Ukraine has developed an arsenal of long-range drones since the start of the war, with such drones often able to hit targets many hundreds of miles from its borders. These drones now routinely hit energy infrastructure and refineries across Russia.

On Sunday, three Russian oil tankers, a cruise-missile carrier warship and a patrol boat were struck in separate attacks on two Russian ports, Zelensky stated. The three Russian oil tankers were part of Russia's 'shadow fleet' used to evade Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's full-scale invasion launched in 2022, according to Zelensky.

On Monday, four people were killed and 18 were injured in a missile strike near Kharkiv, close to the border with Russia, Ukrainian authorities said.