Russia shoots down four Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow, flights disrupted

Russian air defences shot down four Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Saturday, the city’s mayor said, while one of the capital’s main airports temporarily halted outgoing flights. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were working at the sites of the downed drones, but gave no information on potential damage.

Russia’s Defence Ministry, in a report on Telegram, said air defence units had destroyed 48 Ukrainian drones in a period of just over five hours into Saturday evening. Those included five drones in the region surrounding Moscow, two of which were headed for the capital.

The Defence Ministry report said the total included 17 drones over Bryansk Region on the Ukrainian border and 11 in adjacent Oryol Region.
The governor of Belgorod Region on the border said four Ukrainian drones had injured a bus driver and a man driving a car.

An earlier Defence Ministry report said 94 drones had been destroyed over Russia overnight on Saturday and 45 more in just under six hours during the day.

Officials at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport reported delays in departures after flights were temporarily paused. Civil Aviation Authority Rosaviatsiya said the measures were taken in response to “restrictions” over the capital’s airspace as well as strong winds.

Rosaviatsiya said incoming and outgoing flights at airports in several other Russian cities were also temporarily halted, including at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, citing safety concerns.

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