Ukrainian drone attack forces Moscow airports to shut, 3 UAVs shot down

Ukraine launched a drone attack on Moscow Tuesday early morning, forcing Russia to shut all the major airports in the capital as it scrambled to take the UAVs down. At least three of the drones were shot down, Russia claimed. Two of the drones were destroyed over Kalunga and Tver regions, while the third was downed in the Istra district of the Moscow region, according to the Russian defence ministry. Around 50 flights from over four major airports in Moscow: Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky, had to be cancelled or postponed due to the attack. Although Ukraine rarely claims responsibility, drone attacks on Moscow have become almost routine since early May. Russia also claimed to take down a drone over the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014. “An unmanned aerial vehicle was destroyed over the territory of the Republic of Crimea by means of air defence on duty,” the Russian defence ministry said. Meanwhile on the ground, Ukrainian army has made it to the “final layer” of the Russian defence line in southern Zaporizhia, according to George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. “Ukrainian forces continue pressuring the line between Verbove and Robotyne and may be setting conditions to breach the line in earnest,” Barros was quoted as saying by the Telegraph. If Ukrainian forces managed to break through the line, it would be the first test for the Russian deep defences in the war, which began on 24 February last year. A success here would allow the Ukrainian forces to cut the land link between the Russian forces in Eastern and Southern Ukraine by pushing down to the Sea of Azov.